Miseria Cantare
by Seph Meadowes
Summary: Strange accidents have been happening around Caroline Forbes. As her birthday draws closer, the more volatile the accidents get and the more Tyler Lockwood and the new boy in town try to get her heart. Time is ticking and she has to figure out why. AU. Complete.
1. Can I Play With Madness?

_A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work._ **-Colin Powell**

Caroline was tired. And not in the, 'man, school's a bitch' kind of way or 'I want to die!' kind of way either. She was honest of God tired out of her mind because she hadn't been getting any sleep these past few days and teachers had been piling them up with so much schoolwork it should be illegal.

Ever since a few months ago, she'd been plagued with these nightmares with unwashed people shouting at her to burn in hell and then actually being burned in the dream like her skin had really been set on fire. She'd end up waking up after that bathed in perspiration and unable to sleep again lest she want a replay of the nightmare.

She wasn't sure what brought on the nightmares, influenced by some movie she watched or a result of some traumatic psychological thingy but she really had no time to go consult the school shrink about it because she had more important things to deal with like her responsibilities with her various commitees and making sure neither Tiki nor Dana could steal her position as cheerleading captain.

Sleep be damned if the latter should happen.

Caroline was in the middle of plotting Tiki's coldblooded murder as the darker girl criticized the routine she had come up with, calling it 'boring' and 'uninspired'. She was about to show just how 'uninspired' she was by punching the bitch's face in when Bonnie pulled her back.

"Go cool off." Her friend whispered to her wisely and Caroline left her in charge before leaving to go get some water.

The lack of sleep was really doing something for her temper, her patience and how little it was had been shot almost to the brink of death. She needed to get some sleep even a short cat nap would do.

But then again, the nightmares…

Sighing to herself, she grabbed one of the water bottles in the icebox, uncapping it and splashing some of the water on the sides of her sweat-covered neck. It was unusually hot that day, the sun beating down on them almost punishingly and cheerleading practice had gotten her all sticky and gross.

She needed a shower. Badly.

But she couldn't have one till practice was over and she needed to get back there and show Tiki who was boss before she drove Bonnie to insanity. Why did cheerleaders have to be so annoying?

"Hey Forbes!" She turned to see Tyler Lockwood running towards her, clad in his football uniform. He took his helmet off as he reached her, not wearing one of those bandanas he liked to wear during practice. He wasn't free from the wrath of the sun though and was sweater than she was.

"Hey Tyler," She greeted him half-heartedly, idly wondering to herself what he wanted now. Tyler and Caroline had never been friends, forced playmates when they were younger and friends of friends and the people they dated but as real friends go, it wasn't them.

She never dreamed of ever being friends with him anyway, side from the fact they had little in common, he could be a real dick when he wanted to be.

"What do you want?" She asked patiently after a while. Much to her ire, he was too busy at her semi-wet tank top to form any sentence of substance. "Lockwood, eyes up here!"

His brown eyes finally looked up to greet her own blue ones, a guiltless grin blooming on his face as she gave him a glare in return. "Well?" She persisted.

Something was almost playful with the way he stared at her. "Could I have one?" He gestured to her water bottle and baffled, she bent down to get another from the ice box. She grabbed a bottle as soon as she could, feeling his eyes on her and honestly, it quite unnerved her.

"Here!" She practically thrust the bottle to him, causing him to take a step back with the force she put on his chest. "Now you can leave." She made a shooing motion with her hand but he just continued to stand there, grinning at her like she was a particularly funny puppy that was about to do some tricks for him.

"Don't you still have practice?" She urged, wanting him to really go away now. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any horny jocks and their pathetic advances. She had much better things to do and did she already mention her volatile temper?

He still didn't budge. "Tyler." She said warningly now and this seemed to excite him somewhat as if he was wondering what she'd do now. "Leave." She was reduced to one word sentences now. Great.

"Do you really want me to?" He asked like she was a little girl, unable to understand something very complex. And eww, was he trying to look sexy?

"Yes, Tyler." She hissed out, considering clogging him in the head if he didn't disappear right then.

He smiled at her one last time and it ominously felt like a promise. "Okay." And with that, he turned and ran back to where the team was practicing.

Caroline was left standing there, water bottle in hand and staring at Tyler Lockwood in confusion and disbelief. What was up with him?

But she didn't dwell on that too long and walked back to where the cheerleading team was practicing and relieved Bonnie of having to murder Tiki to shut her up. She didn't think of Tyler Lockwood again.

Until that night, as she lay fast asleep, her mind consumed in a word of dark shadows and soft whispers.

"_Do you want me to leave, Caroline?" Tyler's voice was like a melody to her ears, his arm a possessive brand around her waist as he pulled her to him, encompassing her in the heat he gave off._

_She stared into dark pools of chocolate, losing herself in them and falling, falling down a dark abyss until all she could focus on was Tyler, Tyler, Tyler. "No." She was able to stay before he captured her lips with his own._

She woke up in a cold sweat, her heart thumping in her chest like it was about to burst out, strands of her hair sticking to her skin and her hand reached up to wipe the beads of perspiration of her forehead. The dream felt so vivid, so real, like she was almost touching him, feeling all that suffocating warmth from him.

And that's what scared her the most.

She looked up to see the full moon shining at her from her bedroom window as if greeting her hello, she stared into it mystified as if it was calling to her…or someone was calling to her. Who was calling her?

She didn't get too ponder on that too much before the window's curtains caught fire.

* * *

**New Forwood fic! Yay!**

**So, some notes to ponder while reading: **

**Forget the show, all of what happened there.**

**Bonnie's not a witch. **

**Matt never becomes interested in Caroline.**

**And yeah, that's it.**

**Here's the trailer and TV Spot I made, cause I'm awesome:**

http:/ www. you tube .com/watch?v=rP-xdnRDpsg

http:/ www. you tube. com/watch?v=mnBof4Et77c


	2. Magic In The Air

_Alcohol is like love. The first kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that you take the girl's clothes off._ **-Raymond Chandler**

The curtains had been a freak accident. That's how Caroline would like to believe it was and she'll leave it at that. It was just some strange chemical combustion with a really lengthy scientific explanation she neither had the time nor patience to get into.

All that mattered was that she was not letting what happened effect her and nobody had to know. End of the story. Period.

If she should say so herself, she'd been doing a great job of not even thinking about it for the past few days, aside from the strange nightmares, she'd been doing okay in school and felt cheerful enough to attend the back-to-school party near the falls.

Due to some last minute committee things she had to deal with at school, she'd told Bonnie and Elena go ahead without her. Also, she wanted to look nice for tonight and spend a few more minutes than she usually needed to pretty herself up.

She was quite satisfied with her work especially when a few of the football players turned to look at her, obviously pleased with how she looked. She'd never give most of them the time of day but it was still nice to know she was wanted. Possibly even more than Elena who liked to dress for comfort than anything else.

She found Bonnie standing by herself near the camp fire, beer bottle in hand and trying not to look too awkward.

"Where's Elena?" Caroline asked as she reached the darker girl.

Bonnie shrugged and pointed to where their friend was currently talking with and making moony eyes at Mystic Falls' newest and hottest transfer student, Stefan Salvatore. There were the shy smiles, looking longingly into each other's eyes and anxiousness to touch the other but not sure if it was too soon or if the other really liked them.

It was maddening to watch and Caroline gave Bonnie an ironic smile which the other girl returned. "How's Matt taking it?" She asked, wondering how Elena's long-suffering ex was doing in the midst of the newest event.

"About ready to pull a Taylor Swift," Bonnie answered referring to Matt sitting in the corner with a borrowed guitar, looking angst-y and ready to strum out a broken-hearted tune. Caroline wished she had a camera.

Caroline tried to conceal her laughter and look sympathetic. "Poor guy," She clucked her tongue. "Is the song going to be sad or angry, what do you think?"

Bonnie somehow was able to keep a straight face. "I have no idea." Her guilty smile the only telltale sign she was amused by Caroline's comments.

"Well, whatever it is, I predict it'll be a smash hit." Caroline nodded seriously and Bonnie raised her eyebrow at that.

"Since when did you become all-knowing?"

Caroline smiled slyly. "Haven't you heard? I'm psychic." She went on to explain. "An ancestor of mine came from France during the 1800's and she was burned at the stake for studying witchcraft."

Bonnie looked amused but skeptical. "I've never heard of that."

"Oh she was some kind of countess or something. And she bore William Forbes a baby which his wife decided to adopt because she couldn't have any. A few weeks later, they barbequed her."

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. "Wow, you Forbes are more scandalous than people could've ever imagined."

"It's not really a very well-known fact." Caroline explained. "My Aunt Valerie just told me the last time she was in town."

Bonnie said nothing more on the matter and offered Caroline a beer which she gladly accepted. The two friends decided to make bets on how long it would take for Stefan and Elena to get together and how long they'd last. They decided to test Caroline's 'psychic powers' and tried to see if her guess would be true.

"Loser has to do the winner's homework for a month." Caroline bargained.

Bonnie scoffed. "A months? No way, two weeks."

"Three. Take it or leave it, Bennett."

The darker girl just rolled her eyes but gave in. "Fine."

They shook on it and was about to get into a discussion about how many bottles Dana would need to drink to pass out when Bonnie's attention focused on something behind Caroline.

"Don't look now but Tyler Lockwood is coming over here."

Caroline groaned in annoyance. She didn't want to deal with the dick of Mystic Falls of all times now, not when she was in such a good mood. She actually had a few hours of blissful sleep last night.

But alas, like a hurricane, he was coming whether she liked it or not.

"Hey Forbes, Bennett," He greeted them with that arrogant smirk firmly in place. She wanted to smack it off his ridiculously handsome face.

Life had a strange system. All the attractive people were usually either ridiculously horrible or were dealing with some kind of mental disorder.

"Tyler," Caroline greeted him back half-heartedly, making sure she got the message clear – go away.

Unfortunately, being dick meant being blind to such blatant signs. He smiled at her in an almost friendly way. "You wanna go somewhere to talk, Forbes?"

"How about never?" She countered, openly showing her displeasure now. She didn't know why she was so annoyed with Tyler, she just _was_. She couldn't stand to be near him without wanting to throttle the guy.

He looked almost disappointed with her rejection but kept persisting. "Come on, Caroline. I promise you'll be interested with what I have to show you."

Caroline mercilessly shot him down. "No thank you, I'm not interested in forest sex." She smiled mockingly, coating it with sugary sweetness she usually reserved for catty girls. "But if you'd like I'm sure Vicki Donovan would gladly come with you…not unless you don't like STDs."

"Caroline." Bonnie stopped her with a reproachful look. Caroline was aware that she was on full bitch mode and knew what a sight she was when that happened but _God_, Tyler was just so...so…so deserving of it. The dick deserved it, that's all there was to it.

With one last glare, she shooed Tyler away. "Just go away, Lockwood." And she decided to ignore that little part of her that felt guilty for the hurt she saw flash in Tyler's eyes before he tried to look uncaring by shrugging and running off in the opposite direction.

No, she wouldn't feel guilty. He deserved it. She kept telling herself that. He _deserved_ it.

When Tyler was finally out of her view, she sighed in relief, finally noticing how tense he made her as her body relaxed like a tightly wound spring that's been cut. Bonnie stared at her in question. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," She replied. "He just rubs me the wrong way, okay?"

Bonnie looked like she wanted to say something more on the matter but let it go which Caroline was grateful for. They opted to observe the other people around them for the next few minutes, making comments here and there and occasionally laughing at their own observations.

"Hey, who's that?" Bonnie pointed out a dark-haired guy standing near the woods and talking to some of the football players. He was around the same height as Matt with his hair spiked up and dressed up like a Jared Leto wannabe. Caroline admitted he would be kind of cute in that emo rock band kind of way.

"He's not from our school." Caroline said, noting that he wasn't anyone she'd ever seen in Mystic Falls high and with such a small population, it was really hard _not_ to know everybody. Besides, she had a feeling she'd remember him. "He looks older. College guy, maybe?"

Bonnie narrowed her eyes in thought. "One of Duke's friends, maybe?"

"Ugh, please no." Caroline scoffed. "This town doesn't need any more rich assholes."

The thought brought on Tyler Lockwood and she resisted the urge to throw her beer bottle in the camp fire from anger.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, obviously knowing what train of thought she was going. "Well, whatever the case. We don't know his name." She smiled mischievously, one she had gotten from Caroline herself. "I'll bet you an essay in English class if you can go over there and ask him out."

Bonnie's smile was a dare and Caroline Forbes would not back down. She was going to win this and it would be easy like Vicki Donovan's ass. "I'll hold you to that." And with a confident flip of her hair, she grabbed another beer bottle from the ice box and made her way to where the mystery guy was standing.

Adrenalin rushed through her veins as she neared him, her blood pumping in her ears in her excitement and she fought to keep herself look calm and not nervous like she really felt. She told herself that she was Caroline Forbes and that she'd dated some of the coolest boys in school. This guy was just a bit of a step up. Older, more mysterious, a little cuter, just an older bottle of wine.

The boys he was talking to immediately dispersed the closer she came and she was only a few feet away when his dark eyes flickered towards her, irises black as the night sky pierced through her and lighting every cell in her body to life. She almost dropped the beer bottle she intended to give him but was able to salvage enough of her wits to tightened her grip and keep that welcoming smile on her face.

She stopped exactly three feet away from where he stood. "Hey." She greeted breathily, feeling her cheeks flush in anticipation.

He was a lot calmer than she was. "Hey." He greeted back. No breathiness, no flush in his cheeks, just the intensity in his eyes that made Caroline's stomach flip flop.

She could really find herself lost in those dark eyes if she wasn't careful and inwardly she gave herself a mental slap to get herself out of that bizarre trance. Remembering why she was actually there, she handed him the beer bottle. "Here."

He didn't immediately take it, only stared at her waiting hand in wonder before meeting her gaze again and letting his hands close around the bottle's neck, his fingers touching hers.

The moment that happened, a spark like electric tingles danced against her skin, causing her to gasp in surprise and dropped the bottle. His grip was lax and the bottle dropped to the ground and broke with a loud crash, glass pieces scattered on the ground with the spoiled beer.

All the while, his eyes never looked away from hers.

She could only stare at him in confusion, clenching her hand in a tense fist and bringing it back to her, inspecting the limb to see if it had somehow been burned or something. But nothing marred the skin.

He never stopped staring at her and after a while of silence from her part, he finally spoke. "My name's Cole."

* * *

**Say hello to Cole, my newest OC. You can blame Shiloh Fernandez for being so hot in the Red Riding Hood trailers.**

**Yes, Caroline hates Tyler's guts. I wanted to try a new dynamic and mean Caroline is a lot of fun to write even at Tyler's expense.  
**

**There's a new pole on my profile. Go vote on that.**


	3. Do You Believe In Magic?

_Art is magic delivered from the lie of being truth._ **– Theodor Adorno**

Elena and Stefan were almost like a Disney couple. Together they were just so pretty, so sweet, so nice, so perfect and so mind-numbingly boring.

The farthest the two even got on the first date was handholding. Seriously, where they in middle school?

And so far, that's all there was…not even an ass stick out hug or really awkward, nose bumping first kiss.

Caroline could watch more action in the Real Life of the American Teenager. Elena and Stefan were lucky if they ever got to a PG-13 rating and that was stretching it.

Okay, Caroline _was _being a little mean. But good God, she was just so bored from listening to Elena go on about how sweet and smart and what a great conversationalist he was. She should've just brought her Calculus homework at this rate, at least that didn't want to make her want to drown herself in her coffee.

Bonnie being the wonderful friend that she was actually listened to every word Elena was spewing about Prince Stefan the Great while Caroline sipped her cappuccino and admired the view outside the café they were in.

Caroline was paying rapt attention to the mail man getting chased by three rabid bulldogs when Bonnie suddenly grabbed her arm to get her attention. She almost jumped in surprise but did end up spilling the rest of her coffee on Bonnie's blousy white top. Whoops.

"I am so sorry!" She exclaimed in a panic as she tried to help Bonnie dab out the coffee in the ruined material. It was useless, the top was unsalvageable. "I really am sorry, Bonnie." She apologized again and Bonnie waved her off.

"It's my fault anyway for surprising you." The darker girl shrugged. "I'll just change later."

Seeing that Bonnie was fine, Elena finally turned to her and with a cheeky smile said, "So, a little birdie told me that you, Caroline Forbes, met someone last night." Her grin widened. "And from what I hear, he was hot _and _in college."

Caroline shook her head gravely. "Hmm…who is this little birdie?" She looked up as if in thought before looking Bonnie straight in the eye. "Should I wager that this little birdie is covered in coffee?"

"There are a lot of psychotic coffee-drinking cats in the world." Bonnie jibed.

"I see." Caroline tried not to laugh and smiled widely instead, incredibly amused.

Elena's smile mirrored her own. "So? Details!"

Caroline rolled her eyes but spoke. "His name's Cole Chevalier, he's a History major at Mystic Falls College and he's been to most of North America and Europe." She continued on trying her best to remember all the facts he told her last night at the party. "He comes from a French-Italian family, he has a twin sister and he refuses to marry a girl with the letter't' in her name."

Elena clucked her tongue and patted Bonnie's hand sympathetically. "It looks like we're out of the running, Bon."

Caroline tried to contain her smile as her friends played around.

Bonnie pretended to wipe a tear from her eye and sniffed. "And I was so looking forward to a Christmas wedding!"

At that, the trio burst into giggles, finding the whole thing to be ridiculously hilarious.

"W-What's wrong with the letter 't'?" Bonnie asked between giggles and Caroline shrugged.

"Not sure but he explained that when he was younger, he asked God to give him a soul mate with no t's in her name." After a moment, Caroline pondered. "Can that be considered racist?"

That set them off again and they laughed even harder this time. Elena was having a hard time to breathe as Bonnie's feet kicked the table's legs, Caroline had half the mind to steady the wobbling table before they all ended up sprawled on the café's mahogany floors.

Caroline let herself get lost in the haze of laughter with her friends, her face reddening and her stomach starting to ache as they only laugh harder each time they all ended up looking at each other. Several of the people in the café looked at them in wonder, slightly disturbed by all the noise they were making but the trio was too happy to care.

When they finally settled down enough to catch their breaths, Caroline looked at her watch to check the time. And much to her horror –

"Shit, I'm late!" She exclaimed so loudly that everyone in the café turned their attention to them again. Caroline could only blush in embarrassment but didn't stop from getting up from the table and collecting her things, almost knocking back the items on the table in the process.

"Late for what?" Elena asked in confusion at Caroline's headless chicken behavior.

"I was supposed to meet Cole like twenty minutes ago!" She wanted to pull her hair out in frustration and panic, why did she have to be late now of all times? "See you guys later, bye!" With one last wave at her friends, she hurried towards the café's doors.

"Caroline!" Bonnie shouted behind her making Caroline whip her head around and causing her not to see who she was about to run into. She yelped in surprise at the impact, strong arms thankfully wrapping around her waist to steady her and preventing them from falling to the ground.

She was about to apologize and thank the stranger when she realized who it was.

"Tyler." She bit out acerbically and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

His arms dropped from around her and she happily stepped back from him. "Forbes, why do you have to be so difficult?" He almost whined. "I just helped you there, you know."

"Yes and I'm very grateful. Thank you and goodbye." She spat out sarcastically before moving to get past him but he blocked her path. She moved again and he followed.

She narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. "Seriously?" She crossed her arms over her chest instead of going for her instinct and beating him mercilessly with her handbag. "I have somewhere to be, Lockwood."

"And where would that be?" He inquired as effortlessly he blocked her escape every single time. He only grinned when she smacked his arm in annoyance, the jerk.

She was really losing any semblance of patience. She was half growling from anger and her fingers itched to scratch his eyes out. "Out. Of. My. Way."

He didn't budge an inch.

"Tyler!"

"What's the magic word?"

"Fuck you."

He shook his head mockingly. "Not even close."

Why that fucking son of a whore!

"I need to leave!" Caroline half-shouted, already so angry with him she could practically feel steam coming out of her ears. "Why won't you let me?"

Suddenly, a loud crash came from the cashier, people turning to see what was wrong. One of the glass jars containing coffee beans had exploded into tiny glass pieces, the coffee beans littering the floo and one of the waiters quickly running to get a broom.

She stared at the mess in confusion for a moment before turning back to the current bane of her existence. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought as he stared at the broken jar in wonder, his brown eyes narrowed in deep thought.

"Tyler…" She uttered out, wondering about his sudden change in demeanor. Those dark brown eyes looked at her levelly for a moment, staring at her as if she was a ticking time bomb, as if the jar breaking was _her _fault. "Can I go?" She asked, almost quietly as if speaking any louder would cause another accident.

Wordlessly, his eyes still focused on her, he stepped out of her way and let her pass. Opening the café doors, she couldn't resist the urge to look back at him and allowed herself to ponder just what Tyler Lockwood was up to before heading to her car.

Her hands were shaking when she finally unlocked the driver's seat, her breathing erratic and her emotions a mesh of white noise. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to understand what just happened and the confusion that was overcoming her.

She tried to tell herself that the jar wasn't her fault and Tyler was just being a jerk again. It wasn't anything, like the curtains weren't anything. They were just accidents, weird unexplainable accidents.

When she was finally a great deal calmer, she took a deep breath and started the car engine. The radio was playing some kind of 90's pop song she was familiar with and she sang along as she drove the path to the college.

Mystic Falls College was at the edge of town and was a fifteen minute ride from the café, which means she would be more than half an hour late to see Cole. She bit her lips anxiety as she tried not to groan. She hoped to God he didn't think she was the type to always be late for meetings, and this was totally not true because if anything, she was early for most events in her life.

Her aunts even used to joke that she'd be early for her own funeral to help people arrange everything in order. Oh yes, her OCD tendencies were just hilarious to her relatives.

She made it to the college in good time perhaps thanks to a quick pedal to the metal that would've landed her in jail if someone saw her. And how horrible would that have been if it was her mother that caught her. Liz Forbes would've never let her forget it.

Wasting no more time, she parked her car at the school parking lot and grabbed her bag, fishing her phone out of her bag to check the name of the restaurant Cole had asked her to meet him in. It was one of the campus' small restaurants and from Cole instructions was near the parking lot.

It took her another five minutes to locate it, mostly because she didn't spend most of her time at the college obviously and for some God forsaken reason, the people she asked could not give any clear directions. She was almost in tears from joy when she saw the restaurant's sign.

The moment she entered the restaurant she tried to repel that feeling of apprehension that rose inside her, which was to be expected when you were in a place filled with people she didn't know. And out of that see of fifty people, she only knew one.

And it seemed her luck was changing because she found him quite quickly, seated at one corner, his dark head buried in a book. Guilt quickly consumed her as she remembered just how long she made him wait and she pasted her sunniest smile as she made her way to him.

"Hey!" She greeted brightly, grin wide and she took the seat opposite him, trying to gauge his mood.

Ever cool, his only response that he heard her was to flip another page of his book and a quiet "Hey".

The guilt ate at her even more and she changed tactics. It was time to bring out the puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry I'm late." Add in a little pout just to do the trick. "I was with my friends and I lost track of the time."

He finally looked up from his book, closing it and setting it down on top of the _wow_, large pile of other books. She hoped to God that wasn't college coursework.

As his dark eyes stared at her, she put the puppy dog look at full force, knowing that most days her mom couldn't resist that look. Please, forgive me, please?

He shook his head at her as if he could see through her entire display. "Caroline Forbes, you are…" He searched for the right words. "…intriguing."

She felt herself warmed at that. 'Intriguing' – she'd never been called that before. It was mostly, hyper, crazy, neurotic, bitchy, demanding...but intriguing? No. And she couldn't help but like that word. It made her feel mysterious like she was one of those sexy female fatales in those spy films her dad was so fond of.

She tried to hide the smile that was contaminating her mouth but it was useless because her blush was giving her away. Cole only smiled at her as if he could read her mind before handing her the menu. "Let's eat."

She ordered trout and he ordered steak.

Caroline drummed her fingers out of lack of anything to do, her eyes darting around the restaurant as she observed the other college students and the black and white old movie posters on the walls.

"I liked this place for the atmosphere." Cole told her and she wordlessly encouraged him to continue. "My mother's family owned a restaurant in Italy where I spent a great deal of my childhood. This one is a family restaurant too and it reminds me a bit of the older days.

"Older days?" She echoed. "You make it sound like you were born in the Depression era or something."

He laughed at that, his dark eyes shining wit mirth. "Smart, pretty and funny." He grinned at her warmly. "You're just about perfect, aren't you?"

She felt her cheeks helplessly color at that. And she killed the girlish squeal that almost escaped her mouth, instead tried to play it cool. "And intriguing. You forget intriguing."

"Of course." He nodded. "We could make that your middle name. Caroline Intriguing Forbes."

She rolled her eyes and he asked for a moment. "What is your middle name by the way?"

"Alicia." She shrugged. "After my mom's older sister, she lives in Ireland now." Her stomach was already grumbling from hunger and she hoped to God he didn't hear it. Sneaking a glance at him, he seemed unfazed and his fingers playing with his silverware. "How about you? What's your middle name?"

He shook his head at her gravely. "Sorry, I'm taking that secret to the grave."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Oh come on." He shook his head in refusal. "It can't be that bad!"

"Oh it is." He insisted. "In fact, I had quite a few girls breaking up with me after finding out my horrible middle name."

She wasn't buying that for a second. "Cole."

"Hey I don't want to jinx it. The middle name is cursed, Caroline, _cursed_."

Now he was just being ridiculous.

"There are no such things as curses, Cole."

"Oh but there are." He sounded so sure, she almost believed him. But she was never one to believe in all that superstitious bullshit. She was a realist at best.

"No there aren't." She shook her head resolutely. "They're just stuff people make up."

He didn't seem to want to concede defeat in their little debate but just shook his head, not wanting to prod anymore. "Whatever you say, Caroline."

* * *

**You wanna see more Caroline? Vote on the poll on my profile!**

**I'm sick. My nose is runny and cough every other minute. It's fucking hell, y'all. Expect slower updates as the virus takes over my body.**

**By the way, I watched I Am Number Four and it bloody rocked my world.**

**Basically what I thought of the characters:  
**

**Four/John - Alex 'the abs' Pettyfer, also the boy that doesn't sparkle but_ glows_  
**

**Sarah - Boring**

**Sam - Adorable and cute in that geeky kind of way**

**Six - the most badass biyatch in the universe  
**

**Bernie Kosar - Awwwwwwww**

**And also, while I was watching I couldn't help wish Caro was there in replacement of Sarah's character. **

**Caroline: A-Alien...like 'take me to your leader' and shit?**

**Four: Yeah...**

**Caroline: Can you do that whole E.T. glowing finger thing? Cause that would be cool!**

**Four: It's called lumen.**

**Caroline: Awesome!  
**


	4. Strange Magic

_A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way. _**-Caroline Gordon**

Caroline was not in the best of moods. She'd woken up this morning to find muddy paw prints all over her bedroom's wooden floors and much to horror, at the foot of her bed was more of the dark stains and the sheets now smelled of the woods and wild animal.

She'd been half hysterical when she went downstairs to tell her mother and force her up the stairs to see. Her mother had looked concerned and even searched under the bed when Caroline wouldn't shut up from worry.

"It must've come through the window." Her mother explained pointedly at the clearly open window, the sun's rays easily getting in. Just like…whatever it was. She couldn't suppress a shiver.

"What do you think it was?" Caroline asked as she sidestepped the mud on the floor. She'd come down still only clad in her night clothes, her hair a mess, her feet bare and too distraught to care at that time.

Sheriff Liz kneeled down to inspect the paw prints closer, careful not to wipe them off with her knees. "They look like they came from…a wolf?" She sounded more confused than anything else. "How did a wolf get here?"

Caroline was still reeling from the fact that a wild animal had jumped through her window and slept on her bed without her knowing. It sure made her paranoid and she vowed to never leave that window open again. She only grasped what her mother said a second later.

"We have wolves in Mystic Falls?" She uttered out dumbly and Sheriff Forbes looked at her like she was wondering if Caroline was funning her or not.

"Yes, of course, we do." The older woman explained. "But they usually keep to themselves, mostly up Wolf's Mountain."

Okay, this was seriously freaking her out more. "But that mountain's like near the edge of town, how did that wolf get here?"

It was safe to say that she was not comforted at all but that look of confusion on her mother's face. "It might've strayed from his pack." The sheriff said more to herself as she tried to piece it all together. With a tone that she only reserved for when Caroline was being disobedient she continued. "Just lock your window. I'll have my deputes looking out for any wild animals in town." And with a final glance at the floor, she made her way out. "And clean this up."

Caroline rolled her eyes but did as she said. And she started by slamming down the window shut and locking it with satisfaction. The rest of the clean up made her almost late for school and she spent most of free period telling Elena and Bonnie the stressful events of this morning.

"I have no idea how I'm going to get any sleep now knowing that…wolf is out there." She wrinkled her nose at the thought of the animal, remembering all those children's songs and stories about the big bad wolf. She was just glad it didn't try to eat her or anything.

Bonnie patted her arm consolingly. "It'll be okay, Car." She smiled reassuringly. "And if you want we can stay over with you tonight and we can have a sleepover like old times?" She turned to Elena for confirmation and the brunette nodded, rubbing Caroline's shoulder in reassurance.

Caroline could only thank them and sigh in relief.

The bell rang before they knew it and Caroline bid them adieu before going to her next class. She had English, one of the few classes that really bore her to death because she had no fascination with reading the works of old dead guys and their dead language. Why did they have to read Old English? It was _old _and they lived the 21st century for the love of God!

She entered Ms. Montgomery's classroom with the same lack of enthusiasm as always, taking her usual seat near the window, where if she got bored enough, she could stare at the scenery and imagine herself nearing it as she jumped outside the window. Yes, it was _that_ boring.

Caroline spent the first few minutes of the lesson staring at Ms. Montgomery's flowery handwriting, trying to imitate it in her notebook before starting on her wedding plans for her fictional upcoming nuptials to Orlando Bloom. If she wanted, she could be a wedding planner at this rate.

Caroline was trying to decide whether she'd rather have a summer of winter wedding when a ball of paper landed right on top of her notes. She turned back to glare at the assailant and was met with Tyler Lockwood's arrogant grin. Ugh, seriously?

'_Read it!_' He mouthed and she rolled her eyes. Like she was going to do what he said, she'd ignore the thing and throw it out at the end of class.

Unfortunately, she seemed to forget that Tyler Lockwood was one persistent bastard and three seconds later another ball of paper flew into the air, this time hitting her right smack on the back of her head.

That insufferable little fuck.

She gave him one long withering glare before moving to open the first paper ball. She knew better than to wait out and see what he'd do next if she kept ignoring him. She still had a phobia of spitballs caused directly by him during their middle school years.

_Wanna go out with me? Check yes or yes._

She blinked at the note for a good full second before crumpling it up again and throwing it at his forehead. Ha! She could've been a baseball player.

"Caroline, why are you throwing paper balls at Tyler's head?" Ms. Montgomery's whimsical voice asked, causing Caroline to almost blush from the attention the whole class was giving her now. A part of her was resentful, why didn't she notice when Tyler was throwing paper balls at _her_?

"He was asleep." She quickly lied and Ms. Montgomery gave Tyler a pointed look before going back to writing on the board.

Forbes: 1 Lockwood: 0

She was basking in her victory and was in the process of drawing designs for her wedding gown when, goddamn it, another paper ball made contact with her head. It hit her temple this time, landing innocently on her desk.

As she grabbed the note, she swore her hands were shaking from trying to control herself and not get up from her seat and bludgeon Tyler Lockwood to death.

_So that's a yes?_

Why did the bastard not know how to give up and understand the simple concepts like a paper ball to the head wasn't an act of love? No matter what _Parent Trap_ taught them?

She was considering screwing it and just getting up and killing Tyler Lockwood, purging the world of his annoying existence when the bell rang, saving her from going to jail and ending up as someone's bitch.

She hurriedly collected her things, specifically leaving the paper ball on her table before practically sprinting out of the classroom and making people wonder as she passed by if there was a fire.

She told this all to Elena and Bonnie later on that night, the three of them sitting comfortably on Caroline's bed and choosing through their combined collection of nail polish. Elena and Bonnie kept exchanging these knowing smirks as she went on about how Tyler. Must. Die. Now. Please?

She was in the middle of planning how she would murder him, fun little ideas involving dismemberment and torture when Bonnie interrupted her with telling her such a lie, it was absurd.

"You totally have the hots for Tyler Lockwood."

See? Absurd!

She gaped at her best friend. And she thought the darker girl knew her. "That's absurd!"

Yes and point closed.

"No it isn't." Elena joined in. "He brings out your…" The brunette grinned cheekily. "…_passionate _side."

Passionate? _Passionate_?

"He annoys the hell out of me and he won't leave me alone." She huffed. "He makes me angry, that's it."

Bonnie nodded along mock-seriously. "Well, anger _is _a passionate emotion…"

"Bonnie!" She was able to exclaim before her two friends burst into laughter and try as she might she couldn't help joining along. This was so silly.

"Caroline and Tyler sitting in a tree…" Bonnie started.

"_No_!"

Elena joined in with Bonnie as they finished "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" and then they laughed again, almost rolling around the bed in their mirth.

Caroline rolled her eyes at the display. These friends of hers, really.

Wanting to change the topic, Caroline got up and made her way to her closet, reaching for one of the boxes at the top and then returning to her seat on the bed. Her friends crowded over her, eyes curious, as she ominously showed them the box.

"What's in there?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline gave her a secretive smile. "Just some stuff my grandma left me her in will." She spoke more slowly as she opened the box, trying to gain momentum. "You know, they said she was a witch. Just like Madeleine."

Elena looked genuinely confused. "Who's Madeleine?"

Caroline didn't want to give the whole narrative and deigned to give her the condensed version. "Witch in the 1800's, moved here got frisky with an ancestor and then got burned at the stake." She shrugged not really caring before reaching for something at the very bottom of the box. "_But_ she did leave us something very important."

She proudly presented a thick, old tome to her friends, the black leather so old, it almost crinkled on her fingers. "This is Countess Madeleine Prideaux's grimoire."

"Grimoire?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline shrugged and laid the book down on the bed so they could all see as she flipped the book open. "Kind of like a witch's cookbook. There's the list of spells and potions…and basically everything that a witch creates all conveniently documented."

The pages were yellowed and so thin, Caroline had to carefully peel the pages to turn them. The trio's eyes were fixed on Madeleine's handwriting, the kind spurned from practice when calligraphy was a required talent. There were some drawn pictures here and there as it went on about how to do rituals and the ingredients for complicated spells.

Caroline remembered the day she inherited this book, her mother rolled her eyes at it and suggested she toss it out before it polluted her brain with all the nonsense. But Caroline didn't think it was nonsense…well, it wasn't anything that relevant anymore especially in her time and generation. Still, it was still a great deal of fun.

"Look here," She pointed at a page. "It tells on how to a proper séance and connecting with the departed."

"Does…does that seem like a good idea?" Bonnie looked skeptical but Caroline shrugged her off.

"Don't be a wet blanket, Bon." She explained. "It'll be just for fun."

With some candles that Caroline got from under the kitchen sink, they were a go. The steps for doing a séance were fairly simple and the tree of them sat cross-legged on the floor with the candles between, their hands clasped but not their knees far enough not to touch.

"Who are we supposed to..uhm, talk to?" Elena asked.

Caroline thought for a moment. "How about Madeleine? Let's ask how she's doing in…wherever she is." Caroline shrugged. "Now be quiet and concentrate."

She couldn't stop herself from smiling excitedly. A part of her still remembered the days of when she used to watch Charmed with her Aunt Valerie and doing this was pretty cool. "Now take a deep breath."

Elena sighed silently before doing as she said, Bonnie following.

They all exhaled and Caroline felt herself calm, a strange low thrumming now humming through her blood. She felt energized like she just took a shot of red bull. "Madeleine…I call on you. If you have a message, I'm here to listen."

All was quiet for a moment, just the sound of their breathing and the crickets. And then it happened.

The fire from the candles suddenly grew, starting them all and causing them to drop hands as they stared at the larger flames that were now an inch higher in the air.

Elena's eyebrows furrowed. "Did that just…"

"Yeah it just happened." Caroline said, eyes fixed.

Caroline felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest as both fear and excitement rushed through her.

"Why is it suddenly colder?" Bonnie rubbed her arms as if to prove her point.

Suddenly, the candles' flames grew again, the fire now two to three inches higher. Bonnie and Elena looked like they wanted nothing more than anything then to run from that room at that moment and Caroline couldn't blame them. This was seriously freaky stuff but she knew they _had_ to continue, she had to continue.

"Madeleine, if you're among us, show us another sign."

Nothing happened, the flames didn't get any bigger and the trio could only stare at each other as if waiting for a nuclear bomb to hit or something.

"Nothing happened. It didn't work." Bonnie stated and Caroline felt herself visibly deflate. She'd been so excited…not that it wasn't scaring her too but she was positive something was going to happen.

It seemed she just got her wish when the window behind them, the one she locked this morning, burst open with a usually strong gust of wind, causing them all to back away from it in fear and surprise.

"Okay, I'm done!" Bonnie cried before she got up and ran to the door, Elena following suite.

But Caroline didn't move an inch, just staring at her friends as they scrambled out. It was like something was keeping her there, keeping her calm as the wind blew into her room, making her blonde hair fly and the candle flames dance. The thrumming in her veins felt stronger, like a hot imprint in her skin and she could only revel in the sensation. This was…something else, something unnatural but she couldn't get herself to hate it. It felt right to her and she felt like a fish in water.

The wind started to die down after a bit and it was at the last second before it died that something fell down to the floor and right beside the candles. An antique-looking medallion winked up at her, the glistening red of the ruby as if beckoning to her.

* * *

**. - remember our deal. and now update!**

**I'd like to make something clear to you guys.**

**Tyler IS a werewolf.**

**Cole is a not a werewolf nor a vampire but safe to say he's not a boring old human.**

**March will be the month of Caroline. Where every other day I'll be a writing a oneshot/drabble of crossover fics with Caroline. Some of the crossovers will be I Am Number Four (Four/Caro), Gossip Girl (Nate/Caro), Twilight (Edward/Caro), Hunger Games (Finnick/Caro), Vampire Academy (Christian/Caro), Across the Universe (Elder/Caro) and many more.  
**


	5. Magic In Here

_And where does magic come from? I think that magic's in the learning. _**–Dar Williams**

Caroline stared at the medallion lying innocently on her bedside drawer. The sun's rays peeking from the window and making the large ruby encrusted in the center shimmer. She'd spent a great deal of last night just staring at the thing and replaying the events of last night in her head.

Caroline had never felt anything like that. That energy in her veins thrumming like it was alive, as if was a part of her that was being awakened from such a long period of sleep. It was exhilarating and also incredible frightening.

After the wind had died down, she'd gone down to see Elena and Bonnie who was seated at the living room, looking fairly freaked out. At the sight of her, Bonnie had hugged her so tightly, it almost hurt.

"Are you okay?" The darker girl asked worriedly. "Did something happen to you?"

"I'm okay." As she detangled herself, she smiled at the other girl in reassurance and then at Elena. "You guys look traumatized…" She laughed lightly but the other girls didn't respond. "You guys want some hot cocoa?"

The cocoa had helped and after a while Elena and Bonnie were relaxed enough to go up to her room for bed.

Caroline hadn't told them about the necklace…because well, she didn't think it mattered. Her friends had been scared out of their minds from the séance and she didn't the necklace would help any. She'd just hidden it in her desk drawer for the night, telling herself she'd figure what it was later.

Of course, now when she was all alone since Elena and Bonnie went home already and she had the house to herself because her mom wasn't home again…she realized that she didn't really know where to begin with figuring out the necklace's secrets. Contrary to what _Twilight_ taught them, not all the answers could be found on the internet.

She pouted in frustration at the dumb necklace, her fingers reaching for it again and letting the thing dangle in front of her eyes by the antique chain. So far all she could understand about the thing was that it was old and kinda ugly to be honest. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing it on her life.

She sighed to herself and put the necklace back on the table. It was the weekend and she didn't plan on spending her Saturday staring at an ugly, old necklace the whole day. She had better things to do like a date with a hot college guy.

And she still hadn't picked an outfit to wear yet so she was very much in a crisis.

She tried on a few dresses before deciding on one of her shorter dresses. It was a light shade of pink almost cotton candy and had short ruffled sleeves and skirt. Just add in a jacket, some boots and lip gloss and she was good to go. It got pretty hot anyway in the afternoon and she'd seen the way Cole looked at her legs so the outfit was foolproof.

The drive to the college was not that comfortable even with the AC, it was still pretty hot and the humidity made her feel sticky and sluggish. She was meeting Cole or lunch at the restaurant he enjoyed frequenting and then perhaps a movie later if they found something they both liked which was a bit difficult because he absolutely refused to watch romantic comedies and she'd sworn to sooner hack off her right arm then watch a sci-fi film. Oh well, maybe they could settle for a horror film or just have some drinks.

When she finally arrived at the campus, the parking lot was full and it took her a few minutes to find some other place to park. It was only a short walk from there to the restaurant but the afternoon sun beat down on her mercilessly and her neck was slightly wet from perspiration. She was more than relieved to get inside the restaurant where it was thankfully cooler.

Cole was already at his usual table and Caroline quickly checked her reflection on the nearby window before coming over. He waved at her as he saw her near, smiling and making her heart pitter-patter in excitement.

"Hey!" She greeted in her usual cheery manner, taking the seat across from him and placing her bag on one of the other spare chairs. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Not really, I just arrived a few minutes ago."

Which Caroline assumed before the sun decided to kill all the innocent people outside. He looked a lot better than her with her flushed cheeks and slightly hassled hair. God, she hated the sun.

Conversation was halted for a bit as Cole beckoned a nearby waitress to get their orders. Just salad for her because this little piggy didn't want to end up looking like her Great Aunt Marjorie in the future with her dyed pink hair and hips the size of New Guinea.

"So," She started as the waitress left, trying to sound upbeat. "What movie are we watching later? Because I tell you now, I will _not_ watch anything with aliens."

He shook his head in a mock-serious fashion. "I think my world just shattered."

"Yes, how will you ever survive the torture?"

He rolled his dark eyes, smiling at her roguishly. "Oh come on! You told me you watched _Avatar _for Pete's sake."

"That was a onetime thing." She explained. "Matt and Elena were still at their almost dating stage and Matt wanted to watch it but Elena didn't want it to end up looking like a date so she invited me and Bonnie."

"And _did_ you enjoy it?"

She squirmed for a moment and he grinned widely at her like he won. "Yes but it didn't count!"

He wasn't even listening to her anyway too busy laughing at her expense. She scowled at him as he laughed harder, his cheeks flushing and making his olive complexion look even more apparent.

Stupid cute boy.

She rolled her eyes and opted to ignore him for the rest of their lunch until he apologized and it had to be involved a _very _dramatic speech that chronologies just how amazing and beautiful she was. Otherwise, nada.

The first part of the scheme was finding something to keep herself pre-occupied while he wrote his speech in his head, texting seemed like a good outlet and she reached for her bag to go rummage in it for her cell phone.

She froze.

Huh, that's odd.

The necklace, the one she specifically remembered leaving on her bedside drawer was in her bag staring ominously back at her as if it's very presence in her bag wouldn't be a cause for alarm. Oh-kay, this was really starting to get freaky.

"What's wrong?" Cole asked her, seeing how stiff she suddenly became.

For a moment, she considered telling him about what happened last night during the séance and the weird necklace now following her wherever she'd go. But she thought that maybe it wouldn't be a good idea, she really liked Cole and she didn't want to end up scaring him away because he thought she was some mental hospital escapee.

Then again, there was something in those dark eyes that told her that she could trust him if with nothing else but than this. Something told her he could help.

She weighed in on which part of her brain to listen to and when she was sure, she made up her mind. She pulled the necklace out of her bag and placed in on the table, the ruby blinking against the restaurant's lights.

His eyebrows immediately went up at the sight of the necklace, his hand reaching for it and just stopping a few inches above it in the air as if he was unsure before taking it off the table and inspecting it in deep contemplation.

"Cole?" She looked at him confusedly and he turned back to her, returning the necklace to the table.

"It's a witch's talisman." He told her. "Witches used them for protection and also ingredients in some spells." His finger reached up to touch the metal outline of the medallion. "See that? That's celestial bronze, used for a great deal of spells and good conductors for magic."

She could only blink at him, eyes incredulous at his explanation and seeming newfound knowledge. "How do you know all these things?"

He smiled at her sheepishly and shrugged. "My best friend, Gad, is like an encyclopedia for these kinds of things." He explained. "He's been studying this stuff since he was a kid. I really can't get him to shut up about it and I've been picking up some things here and there."

"Gad?" She echoed at the strange name and his smile became devious.

"Gideon, actually," He clarified. "It's a family name, his parents were cruel people."

She didn't miss his specific wording. "Were?"

Something flashed in his eyes, something like pity and his voice became quieter as he answered. "His parents passed away when he was really young. He doesn't really like to talk about it."

His gaze returned to the necklace, his fingers rubbing against the 'celestial bronze' as if memorizing the patterns on it. Flipping it over, he looked more closely at the strange markings at the back, apparently finding something very interesting. "Runes…" He muttered. "This one," He pointed to one of the drawing. "It means 'transference'."

Caroline looked more closely at the strange drawings on the medallion's back, wondering to herself what they all meant. Wow, this was all beginning to confuse her.

"I'm not sure though," Cole said as his hands left the medallion alone. "I could ask Gad for you to translate if you want."

"Oh, would he mind?" She asked and he shook his head.

"It'll give something to do."

Their order finally arrived after that and Caroline made sure to get the medallion back in her bag lest it fall and get misplaced. She had a lot more questions about it and hopefully, Cole's friend could provide the answers.

Conversation went to more mundane topics as they ate their meal, Cole telling stories of his childhood and his supposed chunkiness as a kid.

"My mom was French and my dad was Italian. I was surrounded by good food my whole life." He articulated. "It was just there and what kid could resist gelato?"

She tried to imagine a younger chubbier Cole and it was a bit hard. She scrutinized his face and could only notice the strong curve of his jaw and his crooked smile. She supposed there were some things here and there that pointed to his childhood overweight phase but hey, he was hot now, so who cared?

"Well, if it makes you feel better. I think you grew up rather nicely."

He laughed at that, eyes shining with mirth. Yes, a lot more than nice actually.

"I don't think you would've said that if you saw the pictures." He shook his head. "I was an ugly kid."

"Then you have to show me sometime so I could make my opinion on it."

"All right, deal but I have to see your childhood photos too." He thought for a moment. "Let me guess, blonde pigtails and pink frills?"

She took note that she was wearing practically the older version of that and made a promise to burn this dress when she got home. "Pretty much and all my clothes were labeled Barbie."

He nodded mock-serious. "Of course,"

Then Cole saw something at the corner of his eye and this drew his attention, whatever it was, was behind Caroline and she had to turn back to see what it was. A tall brunette, the height and built of a Vogue model with bronzed skin and long dark hair was walking towards them, dressed in a letter jacket and skin tight jeans with a gleam in her dark eyes that made warning bells go off in Caroline's head.

She turned back to Cole, curious. "Who's she?"

He just let out a groan and frowned like he was being tortured, eyes looking at the ceiling as if to ask 'Why, Lord, why?', "That's my sister."

His sister? That was a shocker for Caroline. She'd heard him talk about having a twin sister before, apparently they went to the same college and she was an Art major or something. Caroline hadn't really given the idea of his sister much thought, she'd just thought she'd deal with her when the time came.

And apparently the time was now. Caroline would just like to point out that she wasn't expecting a drop dead gorgeous Amazon woman. Though, it did somehow make sense, Cole was a good-looking guy, why wouldn't his sister be?

Before she knew it, the brunette reached them, eyes focused on her brother as if she wanted his face to melt off with just her stare.

"Hello Cole," She spoke in an almost acerbic tone. It had a husky edge to it and Caroline noted with some jealously, this just made the girl even hotter.

Cole didn't seem very happy at his twin's arrival but just greeted her with the same amount – or lack of enthusiasm. "Meredith," He groused. "How lovely of you to stop by."

She flashed him a catty grin and took the spare seat at the table without asking. "I was in the neighborhood. I thought I'd say 'hi'." She finally looked at Caroline. "And you are?"

Caroline commended herself for being able to reply. "Caroline Forbes." Man, Cole's sister was intimidating. "I'm Cole's friend."

The brunette's smile softened a bit and she held out her hand. "Meredith Chevalier," Caroline reluctantly shook her hand and noticed what a firm grip the other girl had. "I'm Cole's older sister."

"By three minutes!" Cole exclaimed outraged and Caroline had to stifle a giggle. He looked so cute with his eyes wide in disbelief and he looked ready to throttle his sister. "And you never let me forget it."

Meredith shrugged carelessly. "Why should I?"

Caroline watched in extreme amusement as the siblings bantered, Meredith obviously winning as she continuously shot Cole down with such cruelty and speed, Caroline was slightly impressed.

"Well, I have to go." She smiled at Caroline. "Sorry, we didn't get to talk so much but maybe in the future…if Cole here stops trying to keep you to himself."

"And with good reason." Cole bit out, already beyond the point of annoyed.

"It was nice meeting you, Caroline." She stood up and with a wave at Caroline and the finger at Cole she strutted out of the restaurant, catching interested looks from people as she went.

"I'm sorry about that," Cole told her, once he was done seething. "Meredith can be quite…a character." Caroline was sure he had less kind words but was refraining from using them in front of her.

"No, it's okay." Caroline grinned. "She's quite funny."

"No, she _thinks _she's funny." He shook his head. "I was kind of hoping you never had to meet her."

That made her stomach plummet. He never planned to introduce her to his sister? And in that context, did that mean his family too? I mean, yeah, they were a little too early for those kinds of things but still, it kinda stung that he didn't think she was good enough to be part of that side of his life.

What she was feeling must've shown on her face because suddenly, he was grasping for her hands, eyes apologetic. The sparks that shot through his arms at the contact made her heart beat faster. "That's not what I meant." He said. "You saw my sister, she's psychotic. I was afraid she'd scare you off."

The tightening in her chest reduced at that and she nodded in understanding. "I can relate. My mom has a tendency of scaring boys off."

He raised his eyebrows and she explained further. "Sheriff and a very proud gun owner."

He grimaced but she delighted in the fact he still hadn't let go of her hands. The tingling wasn't quite as distracting at first contact but it still made her feel slightly lightheaded. "Should I be scared?"

She smiled at him cheekily. "Very."

He smiled back and he gave her hands one soft squeeze before letting them go. She immediately felt disappointed at the loss. "Now what about that movie?"

* * *

**Meredith is named after the character from the VD books, Meredith Sulez who was my fave character and then she never appeared on the show. WTF?**

**Also I've been watching a lot of Nikita lately. They killed my fave ship, Thalex, at episode 11. I'm beginning to think all my ships are doomed.**

**Lastly, Damon's gonna be in the story soon around chapter 8. Remember the confident douche bag in the first eps of season one? Don't expect any emo-ness from him.  
**


	6. Abracadabra

_Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes... just be an illusion_. **– Javan**

Caroline woke to the smell of pancakes – burning pancakes to be exact and she feared that the house was on fire for a second before making the connection. Her Aunt Valerie was in town. Her mom's younger, more fun, and prettier sister was in town and Caroline absolutely adored her.

Caroline had greeted the wide-eyed blonde with a very loud squeal and tight hug, saying just how much she missed her as her aunt did the same. Her aunt lived all the way in Florida and Caroline only got to see her on specific holidays and the occasional out of the blue visit – like now.

And Caroline was ecstatic.

"Did your plane just arrive now? Why didn't you call first? Does mom know you're here? Did you bring me a present?" She asked all of these questions very quickly and her aunt just shook her head and laughed.

"Care bear, slow down." The older woman replied. "Yes, my plane arrived just now. When do I ever call? Your mom saw me before she left me. And yes, I got you a present." Caroline squealed like an excited four year old. "Something very cool,"

"Where is it?"

"It's still in my suitcase. And you can have it later – but right now, breakfast!"

The smile on Caroline's face dropped as she observed the charred blackened pancakes on the table and looked up warily at her aunt. "I think I'll just starve if you don't mind."

Valerie sighed defeated. "I know, I know, my cooking sucks." She perked up. "Breakfast at the Grill?"

Caroline agreed and ran upstairs to get ready.

"So, guess what?" Valerie asked her, reminding her of all the times when she was little and they played 'Guess What?' where in one would have to guess what the other was thinking and come up with the most outrageous answers.

"You're secretly a transvestite working in Amsterdam?"

"Disturbing and _no_,"

"You've married a Marshian and you're now expecting a half-human, half-alien baby?"

Her aunt gave her a look. "What's in the water here?"

Caroline rolled her eyes before saying, "Your boyfriend's a werewolf and you took me here to meet him?"

"Close enough." She gave her niece a guilty grin. "I have a boyfriend. He's an old schoolmate of mine and we ran into each other at Florida…"

"What's his name?" Caroline looked around. "Is he here?"

"He's right over there by the pool table."

Caroline raised her eyebrows at the sight of the Greek God standing by the pool table and resisted the urge to drool. This was her aunt's boyfriend, her possible future uncle-in-law if things went well. Must. Not. Drool. Over. Hotness. "The tall, rugged looking guy?"

"Yeah."

They quickly made their way over and Valerie, almost shyly, greeted her 'boyfriend' with a kiss on the cheek and a cheesy hug. They whispered something to each other Caroline couldn't hear before turning back to her.

"Caroline, this is Mason." Valerie said and Mason smiled down at her with grey eyes and dimples. Florida seemed like such a magical place if men like this came from there. Though, Caroline did think he looked kind of familiar…

"Mas, this is my fave niece in the world, Caroline also known to me as Care Bear."

They exchanged hello's and Caroline couldn't help but see how right her aunt looked with Mason. They seemed to fit like two puzzle pieces and they looked so comfortable with each other. It made her kind of jealous and she quickly tamped it down.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I brought my nephew. Caroline knows him I think?" Mason said looking at her questioningly and Caroline nodded. She probably did know his nephew, it was a small town, everyone knew each other.

"We know it each other very well." A far too familiar voice said from behind her and she closed her eyes in sheer horror before biting her lips and turning to see the all too egotistical grin of Tyler Lockwood.

Ugh, someone shoot her.

Of all the people… why did Mason have to be _his _uncle?

"Tyler…"

He nodded at her, still grinning. "Caroline." He cocked his head before correcting himself. "I mean, Care bear."

She groaned inwardly. She hated her life.

"You're friends, how nice." Her aunt must be completely oblivious or was just out to torture her but a look at the sappy smile at her aunt's face as she stared up at Mason confirmed that she just didn't care. She was too caught up in Mason Land. "We'll live you two kids to catch up."

A cheery smile and a few badly concealed whispers later, the couple was off to the bar to 'catch up'.

Caroline just stared longingly at them and just a bit resentfully for leaving her to the mercy of Tyler Fucking Lockwood. Why is it the fates crossing their paths together?

"So, Caroline…"

She groaned before turning to Tyler. "What?"

He tipped his hand, making her notice the pool stick he had in hand. "You up for some pool?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and replied haughtily. "Only if you're up to losing, Lockwood."

He laughed loudly at that. "Yeah, that's not happening."

She bristled for a second at his arrogance, at his annoying-ness (was that even a word?) and why she had to be stuck with him of all people before grabbing the pool stick from him and the games began.


	7. Conspiracy Theory

_The power of Thought, the magic of the Mind!_ **- Lord Byron**

Caroline walked the hallways of Mystic Falls High with Tyler trailing after her like a lost puppy, carrying her purse and books like the obedient slave he was. This was her prize for winning at pool the previous night – slavery and the joy of both winning and tormenting the loser AKA Tyler Lockwood.

She was feeling quite good about herself and opened her locker with a flourish, digging out her books for the next class. She held out her palm for Tyler to give her the books he was holding and changed her mind midway.

She smiled at him mischievously and he groaned.

"Seriously?" He looked at her in pure disbelief which just made her grin wider and she nodded.

He sighed before getting down on his knee. "Your books, mistress?" He said nonchalantly, offering the books towards her like they were a priceless treasure and wincing at how ridiculous he looked. Passersby looked on with interest at them.

Caroline didn't even bother hiding her smile but she straightened up and replied in an imperious tone. "Very well, my slave." And with that, she grabbed the books from Tyler and shoved them inside her locker.

Tyler quickly got back to his feet and glared at her, no doubt hating her for the fool she was making him into.

Winning had never felt so sweet.

"Caroline! Hey!" She turned around to see Bonnie walking with Elena and Stefan. The latter two smiling at each other and gushing over some moldy old book – ah, the mating habits of bibliophiles.

"Hey Bonnie!" Caroline replied before gesturing to the lovebirds. "How long have they've been like that?"

"All lovey-dovey and nauseatingly sweet?" Bonnie groaned. "Since yesterday, I've been a third wheel since."

Caroline laughed at her friend's expense. "Tragic. Poor Bon-Bon."

That was then that Bonnie finally noticed the existence of Tyler AKA Caroline's bitch. "Hey Tyler," She almost warily greeted him and Tyler didn't reply and just looked at Caroline.

"You may speak slave."

"Good morning, mistress' friend."

Bonnie's eyes widened dramatically. "What the hell?"

Caroline shrugged, grinning impishly. "I won a bet."

"Some bet," Bonnie remarked. "Is he like your…?"

"My slave who is bound to my every whim and desire? Yes, completely."

Tyler muttered something underneath his breath that she couldn't hear but she paid it no mind. Hey, he lost! He had to pay the consequences.

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. "That's crazy."

"Brilliant actually," Elena said.

"Pure evil," Stefan said at the same time.

Caroline just shrugged at all their comments and handed Tyler her books before waving them goodbye and headed off to class, Tyler right behind her.

Caroline let Tyler off slave duty later after school. She had a date with Cole and she didn't want Tyler Lockwood to follow her around being all surly and bitter because he was a bad loser.

That and somehow she had a feeling having both Tyler and Cole in the same area just reeked of trouble.

She was meeting Cole at the park and she'd changed into her favorite yellow summer dress before seeing him. Cole was already seated at a bench by the time she arrived, inhaling a frapuccino at record speed.

"Slow down there. Ever heard of breathing?" She quipped at him and he smiled brightly when he saw her.

"Hello Caroline." He handed her an extra frapuccino and she thanked him.

She was about to ask him about his day when he frowned at something behind her. "Who are you?" He asked, almost rudely.

Caroline was confused and turned around to find Tyler Lockwood glaring at Cole with mutual enmity.

"What are you doing here?" She almost shrieked out, making both Tyler and Cole wince.

"Duties, mistress."

She gaped at him in disbelief before closing her mouth and tried her best to rein in her temper. They were in public, they were in public, she chanted to herself.

"I dismissed you already. You can go do whatever it is you do!"

But Tyler didn't move even when she made a shooing motion at him and pushed him back a step, he just looked stubbornly at her until she sighed and threw her hands up in the air.

"Ugh, I hate you!" She told him, earning her one of his cocky grins.

"Caroline?" Cole said, and she turned back to him sheepishly.

"I am really, really sorry. He's not right in the head and he has a bit of a crush on me…so we can just ignore him really."

"Wait, he's going to be with us?"

She winced. "He won't leave. Again, not right in the head."

Cole seemed unhappy at that and she couldn't blame him but he just nodded and took both of her hands in his, caressing the back of her hands with his thumbs. Caroline smiled to herself at the warm tingly feelings Cole so easily inspired in her.

This was what she wanted - a sweet and sexy boyfriend who made her feel good and got her coffee, not cocky football players who had a thing for stalking.

Tyler made some kind of hissing noise and she ignored it.

She wasn't letting him ruin her day. No way.

She was going to enjoy her time with Cole and Tyler Lockwood was not ruining it.

She smiled happily up at Cole and leaned in to kiss him hello.

Three minutes later, Caroline was angrily dragging Tyler Lockwood out of the park, his fist bruised and caked with dried blood from punching Cole Chevalier in the nose.

* * *

**Dear anonymous reviewers, if you want me to reply to your reviews then please make an account. I am not allowing anonymous reviewing anymore. Thank you.**

**ikeepchangingmyname - It's just a name. One that has a meaning for it later on, you'll see. I hope you can get past your irritation to just enjoy the story.**


	8. Bad Omen

_One man's "magic" is another man's engineering. "Supernatural" is a null word_. **– Robert A. Heinlein**

Caroline was telling her friends about what happened at the park yesterday while she helped Bonnie set the table.

They were at Elena's house preparing for a dinner party that Elena were having to officially introduce Stefan to her friends. Elena was all but a worrier and having her best friends get along with her boyfriend was a big deal for her so Caroline and Bonnie had relented and agreed.

Caroline was in the middle of ranting about Tyler…again. "I mean, what is wrong with him? Why is he such a creep?"

"Caroline." Bonnie started.

"Where does he get off stalking me and randomly punching Cole? Who does he think he is?"

"Caroline!"

"Yes, what?"

Bonnie looked her in the eye and said very slowly to make the point clear. "He. Likes. You."

Caroline just looked at her in confusion. "Who likes me?"

Bonnie was almost exasperated. "Tyler!"

"That's not true." Caroline protested in disbelief and disgust.

Tyler? Liking _her_? As if!

"Yes, it is. It's so obvious to everyone but you, Caroline."

Bonnie was just hungry and all. As soon as they get some food in her, she'd start thinking logically again.

"Bonnie, you're being ridiculous."

But before Bonnie could protest to that and state once more that Tyler (_shudder_) liked her, the doorbell rang and Caroline went to go let Stefan in.

The dinner went well enough. Stefan was polite and nice and had a tremendous memory for history. He made references to past decades with such ease like he actually lived through them.

"That's a nice necklace, Caroline." Stefan commented, staring at the ruby medallion like it held the secrets of the universe. "Where did you get it?"

She decided to lie and not tell them it mysteriously ended up in her room one night when she was doing a séance to speak to her ancestor from the other side. "From an ancestor of mine. It's like really old."

"Really? Where are your ancestors from?"

"France. Witchhunts and stuff so my ancestor relocated here."

Stefan nodded as if that answered a very life-threatening question and suddenly found his mashed potatoes very interesting. Weird.

They finished with dinner when the doorbell rang. Elena went to answer it and returned moments later with a tall, too-handsome, dark-haired man who looked to be in his early twenties. Stefan looked more surprised than anyone else and they found out that the man was his brother.

They had dessert and ate Caroline's cake along with some coffee and chatted about mundane topics like Elena's past cheerleading days and Stefan's new quarterback position.

Stefan's brother, Damon, was witty and charming and far too likeable for Caroline's comfort. While usually she would be into a guy like Damon, something about him sent warning bells ringing through her head.

When Caroline went to wash the dishes, Damon joined her, drying as she washed. He gave offhand anecdotes about things here and there and she tried to make it look like she wasn't uncomfortable around him. She knew she was being paranoid but there was something…wrong about him, something that sent her survival instincts go haywire.

"That's a pretty necklace, Caroline. Where's it from?" He remarked almost the same way Stefan did earlier. What was these guys fascination with her necklace? It was an ugly, old thing she only wore for good luck nowadays.

She decided to give him the same excuse she gave his brother. "It's an old family thingy."

"An heirloom?"

"Not really. It just belonged to an ancestor of mine."

"Fascinating. What was her name?"

"Madeleine Prideaux."

There was a soft gust of wind that came through the window as she said the name and she shivered before going to close the window. Tonight was such a weird night with the Salvatore brothers asking about old jewelry and taking an interest in her lineage.

"Interesting." Damon commented quietly to himself.

Caroline would later dream of him later that night.

She's running in a maze and it is dark, vaguely lit by torches here in there, the thick bushes swallowing her in shadows. She's running from…something (someone?) but she's not afraid. She's almost giddy, excited – they're playing a game.

She makes a turn and finds herself trapped against a hard chest by strong arms. All she sees is blue, the bluest of eyes and a lush, full mouth smirking down at her. "I caught you, Madeleine."

Caroline wakes up in a cold sweat.

She groans at another night of strange dreams (why did she keep having them?) and wiped the perspiration from her neck and forehead with the back of her hand. Her camisole is almost soaked through and she feels cold and warm at the same time.

She only later notices the bouquet of moonflowers on the foot of her bed.

* * *

**I know, I know, short chapter.**

**Here's some news. I've recently been diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder. Which explains the depression I've been dealing with since last year and the suicide attempts.**

**Yes, yes, I'm deeply damaged.  
**


	9. Mysterious Ways

_The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper_. **– Eden Philpotts**

Mystic Falls College was as small as can be expected for a college in a not so well-known town in Virginia. The student population barely reached five-hundred and the campus was small bordering on claustrophobic.

Caroline had gone on a tour of the place with her classmates earlier this year and had made a decision to go to an out of state college.

She was only there now because Cole was introducing her to his friend Gad who was a supposed expert on all things witchy and would be able to tell her more about her necklace and the strange dreams she'd been having lately.

What Caroline wanted was to have a good night's sleep without any nightmares. That wasn't too impossible, was it?

They'd arrived outside of Gad and Cole's dorm room which Caroline was sure looked identical to all the other dorms with the small cramped beds, clothing and junk all over the place and the boy smell. The only thing that was different was the numerous books on witchcraft by Gad's bed.

"Sorry for the mess. Gad and I aren't that into order and stuff." Cole said, looking sheepish at the all around clutter. She found it cute.

Gad was still in class but it was about to end so Cole said they could wait there in the meantime. Caroline took a seat on Cole's bed which was relatively clean except for the comic books all over the bed. She saw he was a big fan of the X-Men series.

She looked around the room in curiosity, trying to see which parts was 'Cole'. But aside from the witch books, all screamed normal teenage boy.

"You must be Caroline." An unfamiliar voice said and she turned towards the doorway to see the boy standing there.

"You must be Gad." She said in return.

He fit the description Cole gave. He was tall, lanky and had that geeky style with glasses and awkward smile. His hair was spiked up with gel and he was kind of cute. Not as good-looking as Cole but Gad wasn't really her type anyway.

"That I am. I've heard so much about you, Caroline." He smiled at her and she got up from the bed to shake his hand.

"Whatever he told you, it was all lies." She quipped and he laughed.

"Don't worry. He does nothing but talk about how great you are like a lovesick idiot."

Her eyes widened at that and she turned to Cole who was blushing so hard, he looked like a giant cherry. "Gad!" That just made Gad laugh harder at Cole's expense.

She could see it quite clearly, the easy camaraderie. These two had known each other a while. How long she didn't know.

"You guys known each other a while?" She asked and the two nodded.

"Since we were like six. Our parents were friends." Gad explained before changing topic. "So, Cole tells me you have some supernatural troubles?"

Caroline nodded. "I think my ancestor's ghost is haunting me. I know it sounds crazy and all…"

"I've heard crazier things." Gad dispelled her notions. "Your ancestor was a witch, correct?"

"Yeah, I have her grimoire with me."

"Can I see?"

Caroline fished the heavy tome out of her knapsack and gave it to Gad whose eyes widened at the sight of it. "No way! This has to be like from the 1800's. I haven't found one as old as this one before." He seemed excited at the sight of a moldy old book and kept going on about how incredible it was, Caroline was perplexed at the mind of bookworms.

"Sorry," Gad smiled sheepishly at her when he saw her impatient expression. He sat down on his bed and gestured for her to do so as well, she took the seat beside Cole on his bed. "Is there anything that's been happening lately? Any weird stuff?"

"Some nightmares, really weird nightmares."

"And?"

"Things have been breaking around me lately, small accidents."

"Anything more?"

She weighed whether she should tell him about the medallion or not before relenting. "Yeah, I tried to do a séance with my friends a few weeks ago and this-" She lifted her necklace from where it was around her neck. "-thing came out of nowhere."

He looked intrigued. "Can I see that?"

She took the medallion off and handed it to him.

He muttered a bunch of words she couldn't understand as he observed it. Looking up, he asked, "Where you trying to contact your ancestor…?"

"Madeleine."

"Madeleine."

"Yeah, we were." Something occurred to her. "Do you think that necklace was hers?"

"It's possible Madeleine sent you the necklace."

"But why?"

"Well, we could perform another séance…" She shook her head. Once was more than enough, thank you. "But usually, the souls from the afterlife tend to not be so forthcoming with their intentions. You'll more or less find out in time."

She pouted to herself.

That answered none of her questions. What a waste of a visit.

She didn't understand why she had that necklace. And more importantly, why did Madeleine decide to give it to her?

* * *

**More of a filler chapter. There'll be some major Forwood action soon. **


	10. The Magic Touch

_Why is it that every time I'm with you, makes me believe in magic?_ **- Unknown**

Cole took her out again the next day.

This time to the clearing near the Falls where most parties were held. Of course, it was early afternoon so nobody was there except them. Somehow, this was starting to feel like a really bad idea.

"Why are we here?" She asked Cole as they arrived. It was so quiet in the morning, so different from all the parties she attended here before.

Cole didn't answer her and she nearly jumped when she saw Meredith leaning against a tree. "Finally." The other girl said, looking impatient.

She wondered what she was doing here but then when she turned around Gad was there. "Hey Caroline."

"Gad?" Now she was confused. "What's going on? Why are you all here?"

"We want to explain." Cole said to her, looking sheepish.

Cryptic much? "Explain what?"

Cole sighed, looking tortured. "Look, I didn't want to tell you like this but-"

"She has a right to know." Meredith interrupted, glaring at him to continue.

Caroline was getting annoyed. What was up with these people? What did she have to know? "Know what?"

Meredith smirked at Cole who glared at her in return. With another tortured hiss, he turned back to her. "What you are, Caroline."

W-What she was? Okay, she was out of there. "Look, this is getting really weird. I should go-" But Gad was behind her, blocking her escape and even if the guy was pretty scrawny, he was still half a head taller than her. She couldn't run.

"Look, you don't have to be scared." Cole said gently, looking at her pleadingly.

"Then somebody tell me what's going on!" The hysteria was beginning to escape and if she didn't get answers soon, she might end up having a panic attack and that wouldn't be a pretty sight. "Cole?"

He closed his eyes for a second before looking at her straight in the eye, very seriously. "Caroline, this is going to sound really crazy but…I don't know how to say this, um…_We're_ different. _You're _different."

"Oh for God's sakes, spit it out!" Meredith groaned out, looking very annoyed and she stepped forward until she was only a few feet away from Caroline. The approach was so sudden Caroline almost took a step back.

Meredith showed no hesitation as she said, "You're a witch! You're a full-blooded hundred percent witch. We all are!"

Caroline could only gap at her.

"There," Meredith looked both boys in triumph before turning back to Caroline. "Done."

Caroline was still gaping at her as Cole groaned and looked like he wanted to bang his head against a tree. She was still gaping as Cole grasped her arm and pulled her away, closer to the falls and farther from the clearing.

When they finally stopped, Cole looked like he ate something bad and kept muttering to himself, mostly "Meredith", "fuck" and "stupid".

When she finally regained her senses enough to close her mouth, her turned back to her, dark eyes confused on what to do. "Look Caroline," He said. "That wasn't how I expected that to go."

"Was it true?"

He looked startled at her question before nodding. "That you're a witch? Yes."

She swallowed as the next few words came out. "And you all are?"

He looked regretful. "Yes," He sighed again. "Look, I'm sorry about how this was all presented to you but-"

She interrupted him. "Prove it."

He looked at her questioningly, wondering if she was serious before picking a leaf of the ground, some dew still sticking to it. Without saying anything, the droplets lifted into the air like they were weightless. She could only stare in complete disbelief at what was happening and the strange exhilaration going through her.

It was the same energy she felt the night of the séance. And she realized this what magic felt like. Like a thrumming heartbeat of energy.

A smile broke out on her face and Cole let the water droplets fall back on the leaf. He grasped her hand carefully with his free hand and put the leaf there. With a challenge and belief in his eyes he said, "Now you try."

It had been a very eventful day and it was already night time when she got home. Her mom wasn't home yet and the only person that greeted her when she arrived was Valerie who was watching some movie on HBO.

"Hey Aunt Valerie," She greeted the older blonde half-heartedly. But her aunt had no plans to just let her go up to her room just yet.

"Hey Care bear, how was your day?"

Caroline stopped mid-step and turned back around. "Great. You?"

She shrugged. "Can't complain?"

Caroline took the exit but it wasn't until she was halfway up the stairs that the idea occurred to her. Madeleine had been a witch. She was a witch. And that meant that all the other women in her family could be witches too.

She went back down to where her aunt was seated on the couch.

"Guess what?"

Her aunt looked up in surprise. "You're hungry for some dinner?"

She shook her head. "How about you say it instead?"

Valerie looked confused but humored her niece. "Guess what?"

"You're a witch."

The laughter that followed dispelled all her notions.

* * *

**And the cat is out of the bag. Some of the dialogue was taken from clip previews for The Secret Circle.**


	11. Everything She Does Is Magic

_Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it_.** – Johann Wolfgang**

Caroline had found out for exactly one whole day that she was a witch.

She was still a little shocked, confused, excited, scared about the entire idea.

Her. A witch.

Caroline Forbes was a witch.

It sounded so odd to her and she wondered if this was all just a weird dream of hers. Maybe it was just a strange dream like the ones she's been having.

There couldn't be something like magic, right? There couldn't really be witches and warlocks could there? This all could just be a dream.

But it wasn't.

She knew from when she'd woken up this morning and used the simple levitation spell Cole thought her the previous day to lift her window open. What realized was a broken window and glass all over her bedroom floor.

Okay, so she totally sucked at magic.

Cole tried to make her feel better yesterday when she made the leaf catch fire instead of levitating the dew drops and said that she had far too much power in her and she just needed to learn to control it so things wouldn't keep going all sparky sparky boom boom on her.

Today she was going to tell Elena and Bonnie. They were her best friends and it seemed wrong not to share the biggest development in her life with them. They've been together through thick and thin and she was positive they would accept her, witch or not.

She breathed in before answering the doorbell. She'd asked both of them to meet her at her house after school to show them 'something'. She was planning on performing the levitation spell for them but was sure she'd just cause her pillow to catch fire or something.

"Hey guys!" Caroline greeted them cheerily and they greeted her back with unabated excitement. They had no idea she was about to shake their hold on reality.

She ushered them both to her room and they both sat on the bed, eager for her 'surprise' as she tried to calm herself and concentrate on what she was about to do. They would accept her, she chanted to herself,_ they would accept her_.

"I need to tell you guys something," She started, already feeling she was out of breath from nervousness.

The two exchanged a confused looking before Elena said, "Okay." Caroline was being weird again.

Caroline took a deep breath. "Just promise me you guys won't be freaked out." She said. "You guys will accept me despite of anything right?"

They both looked concerned at this point.

"Caroline, what's going on?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline felt her head aching from all the thoughts going through her head but she pushed on. "Just promise me, you'll accept me no matter what."

The two nodded.

Okay, here she went.

"I'm a witch."

They both stared then blinked.

"Okay."

"No, not okay. I'm really a witch." Caroline insisted. "Here, watch." She grabbed her pillow from the bed and ripped it open, goose feathers fell on the bed in a heap.

She could do this. She just had to keep calm and think of something light like Cole said. Think light, weightless and the spell in Latin.

Slowly, she felt it, that heartbeat of energy in her veins. She felt that feeling of exquisite rightness and sighed happily.

The gasps from Elena and Bonnie made her open her eyes and there, all the feathers were floating around them weightless and immune to gravity. At first, they both looked shocked, almost scared and she felt fear bloom in her chest before identical laughter came from them and they looked in awe at the display of magic.

Caroline felt relief bloom in her chest and she tackled her best friends in a hug.

After that, it was all well. Elena and Bonnie, thanks to copious years of watching Practical Magic and Harry Potter were very open to the idea of magic and her being a witch. They thought it was incredible and Caroline couldn't be more happy.

She's looking at all the spells in Madeleine's grimoire when she finds it. A simple spell to show who you'll marry. It's meant to be done at midnight and out of a lack of anything to do, she follows the directions exactly from keeping the window open to holding a chair near candle and waiting for midnight to come.

The clock strikes midnight.

"Come in, please come in." She chanted and waited for the faint vision of her husband-to-appear but nothing. Disappointed and wondering what went wrong, she almost jumped into the air as the door rang.

She relaxed her fast-beating heart before rushing downstairs to see who it was.

"Damon?" She said as she saw the dark-haired figure outside her doorway.

"Caroline." He greeted cordially, but something in his eyes caused her to feel wary. He still made her feel on edge. "Can I come in?"

Her automatic response was to shake her head and say no but there was something about the way he was staring into her eyes….that…made….her…

A howl shocked her out of the trance Damon's eyes were putting her into and she didn't even bother to say goodbye before slamming the door in his face.

She took in deep ragged breaths, trying to calm herself as pure fear melted her composure. She didn't feel safe, all alone in that house with Damon outside with his pretty, hypnotic eyes.

She told herself she was being ridiculous but it didn't help. Shaking her head at her silliness, she went upstairs back to her room.

She wished she hadn't later on as that night proved to be one surprise after the other.

She was greeted by the oddest sight.

A black wolf stared up at her , having obviously entered through the open window, he stood by the chair she had been holding unto earlier and looking at her with large golden eyes that made her shiver like he could see right through her.

The first thing that came out of her throat was a scream. And the animal seemed to wince at the sound and stepped back as she threw the closest thing to her – a lamp – at it. She kept screaming and almost crying as the animal scrambled out the window, its tail between its legs. If she'd been more observant, she'd have noticed the whimpering noises it made as it left.

Afterwards, she collapsed to her knees on her bedroom floor, too afraid to move, feeling exhausted beyond herself.

* * *

**Major Forwood action next chapter.**

**Check out the trailer for the TSTS sequel, Now the World:**

**http:/www. youtube. com /watch?v=2P49MVcFMPw**


	12. Could It Be Magic?

_Now, I think that I should have known that he was magic all along. I did know it - but I should have guessed that it would be too much to ask to grow old with and see our children grow up together. So now, he is a legend when he would have preferred to be a man._ **-Jackie Kennedy**

She didn't get much sleep from the previous night with weird nightmares and the incident with the wolf, she couldn't sleep properly and was now suffering with constant yawns and crankiness. She almost fell asleep into her cereal this morning. Then again, anything that didn't move for a long period of time looked like a pillow to her.

She yawned into her hand again as she opened her locker for her next class. She had calculus next and she was not looking forward to it. She'd probably just end up falling asleep or something five minutes in.

She waved Hi to Bonnie when the darker girl appeared, looking very interested about something. "Did you do something to Tyler?"

She almost gaped in shock at the question. "No! Why?"

"Look at him," Bonnie pointed to where Tyler was at his locker looking miserable like his dog just died. Which couldn't be possible cause he didn't have a dog. "He's been like that since this morning."

Caroline was confused and she suppressed a moan as she said, "What do I have to do with it?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you've been so mean to him these past few days." Bonnie pointed out with a look.

Caroline ignored her and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. So very, very sleepy…

"What's wrong with you?" Bonnie asked. "Didn't sleep well last night?"

"You could say that," She replied, closing her locker. "Let's go?"

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful except for Tyler and his newfound emo-ness. He wasn't his usual boisterous self and making some kind of ruckus in their classes, instead he was quiet and brooding to himself like he had all the problems in the world. Some of their teachers and classmates were wrong and when they asked him what was wrong all they got was the politically correct "Fine".

"Hey man, you okay?" She heard Matt ask Tyler during English class.

"Fine." The other boy grunted, effectively ending the conversation.

Caroline sighed to herself and tried to will away the tendrils of concern blooming inside her. Why did she care if Tyler was acting weird or not? She hated him, remember. She hated him!

She focused on those familiar feelings of contempt and concentrated on them until the concern she had for that jerk was buried deep inside her psyche. There, that was better.

But even as she buried them deep, they kept crawling back up until lunchtime when she found herself staring at him from her table with Bonnie and Elena. He was seated with some of the jocks and was playing around with his food on his plate instead of eating.

She felt that familiar prick of contempt again. Why did she care about him? Why was he making her care so much? He was a pigheaded jerk who had fun aggravating her and it serves him right to be feeling down from all the bullying shit he's pulled these past few years.

She didn't care, she chanted to herself, she didn't care.

She kept on with that mantra through the football game. It was the first of the season and everyone was excited. Even usually downer Elena was excited as Stefan was playing. She cheered with Bonnie with extra zest as the game began. Stefan played like a pro and had no trouble surpassing other players with unbelievable agility. It's like he had super powers or something, it was amazing.

Tyler, who usually would be pissed at all the attention the new guy was getting, wasn't giving any reaction and was playing half-heartedly. Coach Tanner looked like he very much wanted to throw his clipboard at Tyler's head and Tyler wasn't giving any notice.

What was wrong with him? There was a game going on, he better pull it together!

It happened quickly.

Matt made a pass and Tyler caught it, he got two steps before he was crushed by at least five players, piling on top of him. The referee blew his whistle and broke off the pile, Tyler was at the bottom, still clutching the football but groaning in pain. When he stood up, he yelped in pain and clutched his shoulder. The referee immediately pulled him out.

Tyler went off to get looked at by the medic and the game continued. But even as she cheered, she kept her eyes on him as he walked away to the locker rooms. Against her will, she found her feet following him.

The locker rooms were empty and the medic was nowhere in sight. Caroline wondered about this but continued following Tyler and stopped just outside the doorway so she could hide easily if he turned around.

He sat down on a bench and took of his jersey and then his padding. She stifled a gasp and winced at the purple and blue bruise on his shoulder, marring his skin. She covered her hand over her mouth at the sound of bone cracking, him setting the bone back in place himself. He groaned for a second at the pain before sighing and tilting his head back, eyes closed.

She stood there confused at his behavior, wondering why he wasn't getting medical help when he obviously needed it. Then, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets as the bruise started to heal, fading, slowly but surely until there was unmarred skin again.

Tyler seemed unconcerned about the miracle healing and just sighed and rubbed his shoulder.

She stood there at the doorway, completely stunned at what happened when he looked up and saw her. She couldn't hide quickly enough and only stood there, eyes wide, mouth agape.

"Caroline?" He asked, eyes narrowing when he saw her. She saw panic flash before her eyes before he straightened up and stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"I…I..I…" She found herself stammering, not knowing what to say. Why did she follow him into the locker rooms? But wait a second, what the hell just happened there? How did that bruise heal by itself?

"Did you see anything?" He continued to ask, stressing over each word.

She didn't say anything and he took that as a yes.

"Whatever you saw," He looked her straight in the eye, leaving no room for arguments. "Forget about it."

Forget about it? She just saw something impossible happen before her very eyes! How could she forget about it?

She opened her mouth to say something but he moved past her and she was left staring at his back as he walked away.

* * *

**More Forwood in the next chap. Mason and Valerie make a reappearance.**


	13. I Put A Spell On You

_Better beware of notions like genius and inspiration; they are a sort of magic wand and should be used sparingly by anybody who wants to see things clearly. _**-Jose Ortega Y Gasset**

It was easy enough to find a truth potion in Madeleine's grimoire. It seemed simple enough to create and Caroline hoped that she'd be able to pull it off without making Tyler puke his guts out or something worse.

It was a little risky with her being a newfound witch and all to be doing potions so soon but practice made perfect and the thing was, the curiosity was killing her. What was Tyler hiding? What happened at the locker room the previous night? That was anything but normal and she was going to find out just what Tyler Lockwood was hiding.

The ingredients of the potions were mostly simple and what she couldn't find around the house, she got from Gad who believed that she was merely practicing potion making. He even brought some books over and helped her make the potion so she was sure it was going to work.

She was so focused on her mission the entire day at school she even counted the seconds before lunch time. She'd mixed the potion in some chocolate chip cookies which she knew Tyler was a total sucker for.

A part of her said that this was completely immoral, drugging him to get to his secrets but curiosity won out and by the time lunch rolled around, she had the cookies in a small basket and marched over to the jock's table. The whole table looked up when they saw her, Matt nudging Tyler in particular, the entire table grinning at him like there was some big secret going on.

Caroline mentally rolled her eyes. _Whatever._ Boys, really.

She smiled brightly at Tyler which confused him but he looked…pleased (?) at her nicer approach to him today. "Tyler, hey!" She greeted. Her cheeks almost hurt with the effort of smiling so widely. She wanted to puke at how she was acting. "I baked you some cookies. I know how much you love chocolate chip."

The rest of the table was in uproar, making the other students turn and look to see what was going on. Tyler's eyes were so huge they looked like they were about to fall out of his head. "Y-You baked those for me?" He sputtered out in total disbelief.

_Yes, you idiot._

She kept on smiling and handed the basket to him even though seemed reluctant to accept. He was looking down at the basket like it was a ticking time bomb.

"I made them for you and_ only_ for you so don't give them away." She emphasized, slapping Matt's hand when he reached to grab one. The blond gave her an unhappy look which she ignored.

He still kept looking at the cookies and back at her in total shock for a moment before the brightest, warmest smile broke on his face and it took all her energy not to smile back. He looked genuinely happy at her gesture and there were little fluttering feelings in her chest that kept springing up as he kept smiling.

He was doing weird things to her and it had to stop. With another too-sweet smile and a too-cheery "Bye!" she left him staring at her, grin's still in place and slapping Matt's hand as he tried to go for another cookie again.

Caroline let herself finally sigh as she exited the cafeteria. That had been more stressful than she thought it'd be. And what was up with her? Why did she suddenly feel like smiling back at Tyler and blushing?

She had a boyfriend for God's sake! This wasn't right or proper.

And it was just gross. This was Tyler after all. Any feeling associated with him needed to die.

Besides, she had other things to focus on like the potion. It'd wear off in a few hours and she needed to talk to him and learn about what happened last night before the potion's effects ended.

She'd have to corner him during football practice later. Hang around the water table like before.

Tyler proved to be predictable and appeared when she was getting some water from the ice box. She pretended not to notice him and dug inside the box for bottled water.

"Can I have one?" He asked from behind her and she dug around for another one as she felt his eyes on her.

When she turned back around, water bottles in hand, he was staring at her very intently, like she was the new toy he saw at the toy store his parents wouldn't buy him. This was a weird analogy because Tyler never did have that scenario. His parents gave him whatever toy he wanted as a kid. He was that spoiled.

"Tyler?" She called warily and he broke out of his trance.

He thanked her as she handed him the water and drank greedily like he was the thirstiest man in the world.

"So," She started after a beat. "How's practice?"

"Tanner's giving as hell. We won the game and all but another one's coming in a few weeks so he's back to his Hitler ways."

She nodded, knowing full well from her History class what a total dictator The Tanner could be. "It was a great game yesterday." She commented idly before asking, "Are you feeling okay?"

Something flashed before his eyes like panic before he coolly replied, "Yeah, of course."

"How's your shoulder, is it healing?"

He looked skeptically at her before answering, "Just fine. Thank you for the concern."

She decided to bite the bullet. "How was that possible? How'd you heal so quickly?"

"Because I'm a were-" He stopped himself before he could continue, looking at her in total panic and disbelief. "What the hell-"

"What are you, Tyler?" She pressed on. "Tell me the truth."

He looked pained as he tried to stop myself but the words kept coming out. "I'm a werewolf."

She stared at him in shock. He was a what? "A werewolf?" She echoed.

"What's going on? Why can't I-"

"How is that possible?"

"My ancestors were werewolves and so am I." He hissed in pain. "What did you do to me, Caroline?"

"I'm sorry," She whispered. "But I had to know."

She continued asking. "Why do you keep bothering me?"

He looked her in the eye for a full second, so much pain and fear in them before he spoke. "Because you're my mate."

* * *

**Ah, Forwood you make me happy. Who saw that coming? Well, I did! XD **

**I'm having trouble with the TSTS sequel. I'm a little confused with it, I need someone to talk to about it. Any volunteers? You'll get so many spoilers.**

**I'm writing another story, it's a Beauty and the Beast reimagining with Forwood.  
**


	14. Hocus Pocus

_And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it._ **- Roald Dahl**

Caroline stared at Tyler in complete disbelief and shock.

"W-What?" She stuttered out.

And Tyler looked pained before he started to talk, "It's been all the time, the flowers, that wolf two night ago – it's been me." He sighed. "I couldn't help myself. You're…you're all I can think about. You're in my head constantly. My wolf keeps whining about you…I don't know what to do, Caroline."

Caroline still couldn't believe her ears. It just couldn't be possible could it? A werewolf? But she remembered the black wolf that appeared in her bedroom and Tyler's downer mood the next day, the moonflowers mysteriously appearing in her room, how Tyler kept bothering her for weeks. The dots all connected and it pointed to the truth.

Tyler was telling the truth.

But how was it possible? How could any of this exist outside the realm of fiction? Him a werewolf and her a witch – what oddities they were. What insanity her life had become.

And what more, what could that mean – her being his mate? Did that make her his in some way? Did that make him hers? Did they belong to each other?

"What does it mean?" She asked, feeling lightheaded like she couldn't breathe.

"It means I need you and I want to protect you and I get jealous any guy comes near you. Heck, I get jealous of your friends. That's how possessive I feel. Especially when you're all lovey dovey with that Cole guy…"

"Leave him out of this," She snapped. "He has nothing to do with…with whatever this is."

He looked annoyed at her defending Cole. "_This_, as you so call it, Is something big. Mating is…is something sacred. It's no joke."

Now it was her turn to be annoyed. Who was he to be moody about all this? "If it's so important, why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

He sighed. "I was trying to get close to you before having to reveal anything. I wanted you to be with me because you wanted to be with me not because you feel obligated to."

"But I don't want to be with you." She remarked without thinking and she should've chosen her words more carefully because they cut through him like a knife and the hiss of shock and the pain in his eyes made her heart clench uncomfortably. What was wrong with her? Why did she care? Was it because they were 'mated'?

"I know." He said, unable to look at her anymore. She fidgeted in the uncomfortable silence that followed before he spoke again. "But nonetheless, whether you accept me or not, I will try to save you."

Save her? From what? But before she could ask what he was talking about a loud shout of "Tyler!" made them and the rest of the football team turn around and look at Tyler's Uncle Mason and her Aunt Valerie running towards them.

What were they doing here?

"Tyler, we need to go home." Mason said as he approached them. "I already talked to your coach. Come on."

"But-" He tried to protest but the older man would not have any of it.

"Come on." Mason said seriously and Tyler looked unhappy but followed him.

"Bye, Caroline." He looked at Caroline meaningfully before turning tail and running to the locker rooms to change. Caroline stared back, questions still on her tongue.

Mason whispered something to her aunt before he followed Tyler.

"Caroline," Her aunt said, large blue eyes looking at her seriously. "We need to go home."

Her blonde eyebrows furrowed and Caroline asked, "Why? I still have practice."

But just like Mason, she would have none of it. "It's important."

Caroline wanted to ask more questions but figured she'd get more answers if she just went along with whatever her aunt said. She made her excuses to the squad and collected her things before getting in her aunt's car for the long drive home.

The car ride was in complete silence with Aunt Valerie refusing to entertain any of her questions and responded with a curt "At home".

Caroline was really beginning to get sick with all these people hiding things – very big, monumental things that involved her from her and she was not glad about it.

She pouted like a spoiled little girl until they arrived and went into the house in a huff, dropping her duffel bag on the floor and plopping down on the couch ungracefully. Her aunt followed in a second later, taking the opposite seat from her, her blue eyes grave.

"So?" Caroline uttered and her aunt sighed before she started to explain.

"Remember when asked me if I was a witch?"

Caroline nodded.

"Try asking again."

She was tentative but she still was able to ask, "You're a witch?"

"Yes." Caroline's eyes widened in disbelief and Aunt Valerie smiled wistfully before she said, "Most of the family is actually."

"What about mom?" She'd lived with her mom her whole life and she never saw anything witchy about her, she didn't do the nose thing like Samantha from Bewitched.

"Some deny their gift so much they become dormant," She explained. "Your mom's still a witch, she just doesn't want to believe it."

Caroline tried to process this all in. "So Madeleine…?"

"Was really a witch," Aunt Valerie finished. "And her grimoire's real. My mother left it for you in her will. She was a witch too, of course, and your mom wanted to throw it out but I talked her out of it."

Caroline tried to absorb all this. She was a witch, her Aunt Valerie was a witch, her mom was a witch (albeit dormant), her grandmother had been a witch and, she was really descended from a French witch. This was all real…and all too much to take, the same day she found out she was a werewolf's mate.

"Please say something," Aunt Valerie coaxed her into speaking, looking worried.

"I-I don't know what to say." She sighed before looking into her aunt's large blue eyes. "What now? What does this all mean?"

Aunt Valerie smiled, eyes mischievous. "It means, I have a lot to teach you, young witchling."

* * *

**Moonflowers only bloom at night. Just some nice bit of info everyone should know...**

**Spolers for people who haven't watched the season premiere:**

**FORWOOD GOODNESS - OMG! The tension, the jealousy, the kiss, the smut - WOW! And then Mrs. Lockwood - WTF? I liked her you know! And they ruined her, RUINED HER! Sigh. She's only likeable in my stories now, oh well...**


	15. I Should Be So Lucky

_I don't know that I believe in the supernatural, but I do believe in miracles, and our time together was filled with the events of magical unlikelihood. _**-John Perry Barlow**

Bright and early, Caroline woke up to meet Tyler at The Grill and talk about their being 'mated' status. She didn't really want to go but Aunt Valerie insisted.

She and Mason would help explain the whole mating thing better because surprise, surprise, they were mated to. From high school sweethearts to a mated witch and werewolf, they made the not perfect fairytale couple.

Caroline had spent most of the previous night tossing and turning in bed, thinking over her predicament with Tyler and trying to figure a way out and ending up with no solutions. She was already losing sleep because the ghost of her ancestor was haunting her, she didn't need this to add on to.

But c'est la vie, she had no choice in the matter. So she waltzed in The Grill, Tyler's eyes immediately zoning on her like some eager bloodhound and they got the party started.

"So, where do we start?" Mason asked, obviously trying to diffuse the obvious tension within the group. "Val?"

Her aunt nodded and spoke, obviously more comfortable than him, "First of all, mating is non-negotiable. I don't mean to make it sound like your trapped but there's no way out."

That served to crush any dreams Caroline had of freedom. "But what if you don't want to be mated?"

"It may start out like that," Aunt Valerie replied. "But you wouldn't have been chosen as his mate if you weren't compatible."

She almost scoffed. Her and Tyler? Compatible? Don't make her laugh. They were about as compatible as oil and vinegar, and_ don't_ make any salad remarks,

The Fates seriously needed their heads checked if they thought she and Tyler were perfect for one another. Nothing could be more far away from the truth.

"Caroline," Mason started. "mating is a wonderful thing. I know it seems a lot at the moment but once you get used to the idea, everything will be fine"

"There's an urge you see," Aunt Valerie added. "A pull, you want to be near your mate. You want to see them, hear their voice. You wonder how they are, care for their well-being."

"It's not that hard of course with the telep-"

"I have a boyfriend." She interrupted Mason. "Does that mean I have to give him up?"

Aunt Valerie and Mason shared a look before both turned back looking more uncomfortable than before. Valerie sighed. "You just have to understand, Caroline, this is a big thing-"

"But I don't want to be mated!" She half-shouted, causing half of the people in The Grill to look at them, she lowered her voice as she continued. "I like my life the way it is with my boyfriend and I want to keep it that way. I know I'm being self-centered but that's how I feel."

"Then okay," Tyler finally spoke. "If you don't wanna be with me, then okay. But please, give me just something to live on. Let's be friends at the least."

Friends? She almost scoffed. When have they ever been friends.

But she knew that if she pushed back even more, they wouldn't budge and so she conceded. "I'll try but I'm making no promises." She eyed them all for a full minute before standing up. "I think we're done here."

She turned away with a bye, still feeling Tyler's eyes on her back as she walked away. It sent shivers down her spine and she tried to control her body's urges. Being around him set her on edge, every cell in her body ached to be closer to him but her mind refused. She didn't want to be mated to him even when her entire being pressed her to accept her fate.

Except she didn't want this fate. She wanted Cole.

With that thought, she fished her phone out of her purse and dialed Cole's number. He answered after a ring with a cheerful, "Hello beautiful" and she smiled.

"Did you know?" She asked and he asked her about what. "About Tyler Lockwood, you know the guy who broke your nose?"

"_How could I forget? What about him?"_

"He's a werewolf. Did you know?"

There was a silence on the other end before he spoke, _"Yeah I did. These kind of things get easier the more you get used to your magic. You'll be able to do that too soon."_

She felt slightly annoyed that Cole didn't tell her about Tyler's 'condition'. OF course, he kept him being a witch for a long while too before he revealed it. What else could he be hiding from her?

"_Are you mad?"_

"No, of course not," She lied. "Are there others like Tyler?"

There was him chuckling. _"There are a lot of creatures here in Mystic Falls…"_

Way to be cryptic. But then she remembered Damon and that night with his eyes and that lightheaded feeling in her head when she stared into her eyes...

Caroline just suddenly feel tired from the lack of sleep, her conversations with Team Werewolf and Cole. She needed sleep badly.

"I'm feeling a little tired right now, Cole. I'll talk to you later?"

"_Sure. I'll call you-" _

She hung up before he could finish and sighed, resting her head on the steering wheel of her car. It just felt like everyone was hiding something from her and she was getting so sick of it.


	16. Dreaming

_That's the thing with magic. You've got to know it's still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you_** -Charles de Lint**

Caroline dreamt of mirrors, each one containing a memory, memories that weren't hers.

She saw the reflection of a beautiful girl, all blue-eyed and blonde, French beauty at its best. _Madeleine._

She dreamt of France, of dresses, of jewels, of servants and secrets.

_Madeleine laughs as she spins in a room in a blood red dress._

She dreamt of castles, vineyards, dances and laughter.

"_May I have this dance?"_

There's magic, wild and untamed, hidden beneath the cover of society.

_Madeleine stands in a circle of fire, staring into the sky…_

She dreamt of running, fear and screams.

"_Run, Madeleine, run!"_

She dreamt of Mystic Falls, back when there were carriages and gentlemen.

"_And you must be Mr. Salvatore."_

"_Ms. Prideaux."_

_Damon kisses her hand and she curtsies._

She dreamt of Damon in funny clothes asking Madeleine to dance.

"_Why should I, Mr. Salvatore?" Madeleine says playfully as he coaxes her. _

She dreamt of laughing with a girl who looked like Elena.

"_Oh Katherine, you'll never change!"_

She dreamt of a baby being born in a dungeon.

_Cold blue eyes stare down at her and at the bloody baby in her lap…_

She dreamt of fire.

_Madeleine screamed as the flames licked her skin…._

She dreamt of death.

_The same man in the dungeon stood near the fire, eyes cold and unyielding. _

"_Madeleine…."_

She woke up, covered in sweat.

And she instantly reached for her phone and dialed Gad's number.

"Hey Caroline," the boy answered. "What's up?"

"Can you look more into Madeleine?" She said, trying to calm herself but she was too anxious and on edge. "I think there's more to her story." She remembered all her dreams, there was definitely more.

"Sure thing,"

Three days later, she found herself back in Gad and Cole's dorm room, her sitting again beside Cole on his bed while Gad explained his research.

"Countess Madeleine Marguerite Prideaux was born in Southern France in family secretly practiced witchcraft until they were betrayed and burnt at the stake. Madeleine escaped with a friend of hers some girl named Katherine Pierce. They migrated to Mystic Falls where they stayed with the Salvatores until there was another witch hunt and she was burnt at the stake."

"That's it?" Caroline stared at him incredulously. "That's all you got on her?"

Gad gave her a look. "Yes, that's all I have on her! All I had to work with was her grimoire, Google and some info I had with some other witches. Madeleine was not that famous of a witch, you know."

"That's still not a lot to go on, Gad," She insisted. "I mean, it still leaves the question: why is Madeleine haunting me with her memories? What is she trying to say?"

"I don't know." Gad looked apologetic before sighing.

"Give Gad a break, Caro," Cole said. "He did his best."

"I know that," Caroline said. "But I still need more. She's haunting me, Cole, and I need to know why."

Gad spoke again. "Look, I have this contact in Florida. She might give you some more insight. She's been studying a bit into the Prideauxs."

"Florida?"

Gad nodded. "I can give you her address."

Caroline took it, her mind on the words on the slip of paper as she drove home. She arrived at dusk, the sky dark as she entered the house, her aunt sitting on the coach and talking on the phone with probably Mason.

Caroline took this time as any to interrupt and tell her of her road trip plans.

"It's a school night!" Aunt Valerie protested.

Caroline tried to reason out. "Yes, yes, but this is important. I'll be going tomorrow and be back on the same night."

"So you're skipping school?"

"Call it prioritizing."

Her aunt gave her a dry look, clearly not amused. "Very funny, Caroline."

And that's exactly how Caroline ended up in her car with Tyler Lockwood riding shotgun and playing AC/DC on her stereo.

"Remind me again why you're with me?" She demanded and he obliged by replying, "Because you're aunt told me uncle who told me and no one wanted you to go alone."

Unfortunately, that was true. Gad couldn't come with her because he was busy with something. Cole had some family thing with Meredith, leaving her to be stuck with the last person she wanted to be with.

It was going to be a long trip indeed.

* * *

**A road trip with Tyler and Caroline? I wanna go with them! Some Forwood action in the next chap.**


	17. SemiCharmed Life

_ Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice_**-Unknown**

Caroline would bore you with the memories of the long and arduous thirteen-hour trip but since she didn't want to remember herself, she won't. All she knew was that spending more time with Tyler than she ever had, was exhausting and nauseating and very, very tiring. She wanted to go home and sleep for the longest of time but they just finally arrived in Florida and were at the school the professor Gad referred them was at.

Caroline apprehensively stared apprehensively at the contact details Gad had written down for her. Marilyn Terice was the name of the professor and underneath her name was the number Caroline had texted earlier. The woman had agreed to meet them in her office at the university and after asking directions from someone, they finally made it there.

Caroline took a deep breath before knocking. The enormity of the visit was getting to her. This woman would tell her all she needed to know about Madeleine and it both excited and frightened her. What if she didn't like what she found out? There was only one way to find out.

The door opened and both Tyler and Caroline looked surprised at the face that greeted them.

"About time you to got here," Valerie remarked, grinning. "How was the trip?"

What the hell?

"Aunt Valerie! What are you doing here?" Caroline asked in complete shock.

What was her aunt doing in Florida and where was the professor?

Valerie rolled her eyes and opened the door wider to let them in. "Come on in, I'll explain everything."

The two teens followed reluctantly, both standing awkwardly in the large study room.

"Alright, explain." Caroline insisted and her aunt took a seat behind the desk before starting.

"Marilyn Terice is the name I use here. It's a pseudonym for all the books I write."She said. "The university knows my real name but allow me to use Marilyn since I told them a lie about a psycho ex-boyfriend."

Caroline couldn't believe this. "Seriously?" She felt like screaming for some reason. "You made us drive all the way here when you could've talked to us in Mystic Falls? And since when are you a professor?"

"I've been a professor here for about five years now." The other blonde answered. "And where's the fun in telling you two back home? I hope you enjoyed the road trip."

No, she didn't. She really didn't appreciate her aunt's behavior.

"You…I- ugh!" Caroline threw her hands up in exasperation. She really couldn't believe this and she was shocked dumb.

Tyler on the other hand just shook his head and chuckled, finding all of this very amusing, the jerk. She resisted every urge to smack both her aunt and Tyler and then running away for a latte or a very strong drink. She needed to keep her calm, she was there for a reason.

Still a little miffed, she took a seat at the love chair in the corner and asked her aunt to start talking about what she came there for - Madeleine.

Valerie stood up and reached into her desk, taking out an aging photo and handed it to Caroline. "That's her, back in 1864 in Mystic Falls."

Both Caroline and Tyler stared down at the blonde girl who haunted Caroline's dreams. Madeleine was beautiful with aristocratic features, blonde hair, high cheek bones, a straight nose and plump lips. She looked like a painting or a renaissance statue.

"She was born Countess Madeleine Marguerite Prideaux to Count Louis and Countess Isobel Prideaux. She grew up in wealth and comfort, her family practicing witchcraft until-"

"The witch hunts," Caroline finished, remembering the visions of fire. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to block the terrible images out.

"Yes," Valerie nodded. "Then she moved to America with a friend of hers, Katherine Pierce." She handed them another photo of a girl that looked exactly like-

"Elena?" Tyler uttered out.

"Elena's ancestor," the professor explained. "She was a vampire."

A what now?

"A vampire?" Caroline questioned, earning her another eye roll from her aunt. "You know that werewolves and witches exist but vampires faze you?"

Well, when she put it that way…

"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted…Mystic Falls learned of the vampires (I'll explain that some other time) and they went on a hunting rampage, they also burned the witches and Madeleine was betrayed by her best friend, Katherine." She continued. "But Sheriff William Forbes had other plans. Instead of giving her up for the people to burn, he imprisoned her, raping her until she became pregnant with his child. His wife at the time was barren and they agreed to keep her alive until she gave birth. Afterwards, she was burned with the rest of the witches."

The serious of flashbacks that consumed Caroline made her dizzy and she leaned against Tyler for support. He asked her if she was alright.

"I'm fine…I just I saw all that," She explained. "I think Madeleine wants me to know her story."

"Of course she would," Valerie said. "She's very much invested in you, Caroline."

She stared up at the older blonde in interest and confusion. "But why?"

"Because she needs you," She replied. "You see, Caroline, before Madeleine was burned at the stake, she cast a curse. That someday, she would come back for revenge on all those that betrayed and hurt her and their children. She would use the body of one of her descendants, a virginal vessel, a witch just like her who upon reaching the age of eighteen, at the perfect time would bring her back."

Caroline's eyes widened. But if what she was saying was true then…

"I'm the vessel?"

She nodded. "Unfortunately."

Caroline suddenly couldn't breathe. She needed…she needed…

She stood up and ran out of the room. Valerie shouting at her, "Caroline!" and Tyler following.

Once she made it outside, she ran to the gardens at the back, stopping at a fountain as her lungs started to take in more air than usual as she gasped. She was suddenly crying not knowing fully why but she felt like she needed to. All she found out…she was…and what was going to happen. It was only a week away until her birthday and that meant….

She continued to cry even as Tyler stood beside her, looking awkward as he tried to figure out what to do. His hand placed on her shoulder and she didn't pull away, accepting his comfort and crying into his arms as he stroked her hair. He felt warm and inviting and she needed that more than anything at the moment. She didn't even bother to think about their mating, she just needed him.

"It's okay," He whispered in her ear. "It's okay."

"No, it's not!" She pulled away, eyes still watery. "You heard what she said. Madeleine's coming for me, my birthday's a week away – I'm a ticking time bomb! She's going to come and she'll possess me and she's going to get revenge on all the children of the people that hurt her. That's Elena and Jeremy and my mom, my dad and you!" She shook her head, tears falling. "I'm going to hurt so many people, Tyler, and I can't stop it!"

Tyler stared at her in complete shock for a full second before he pulled her closer and grasped her face in his hands. "Listen to me. None of that is happening, okay? I will not let anything happen to you."

He looked so serious, so sincere, she wanted to believe him.

"So everything's going to be fine, okay?" He asked. "Okay?"

She nodded her head and he pulled her closer for another hug. She felt content in his arms, light even and she would later obsess over this moment like her neurotic behavior demanded but at the moment, she was quite happy.

She felt his lips at her temple and she closed her eyes, trying to believe everything he promised.


	18. You Got My Mojo Working

Elena and Bonnie both stared dumbfounded at Caroline as she explained to them all that had happened the previous day. Both girls switched from intrigued to concerned to horrified in a matter of minutes.

"So let me get this straight," Elena said. "Your ancestor is a witch who's going to come and possess you after your birthday and get revenge on all the Founding Families?"

"To summarize, yes." Caroline stood up from her seat and started to pace on the mahogany floors. "My birthday is in a week and Valerie said the possession would be on the solstice and-"

"Caroline, you're making me dizzy." Bonnie told her, urging her to sit back down again. "Look, just calm down, we'll figure this out."

"Yeah, Caroline. There is a solution to this problem." Elena agreed. "We'll just have to figure out what it is."

"'A virginal vessel' that's what Valerie said right?" Bonnie pointed out. "Then it's simple. You just have to lose your virginity to Tyler and all is dandy."

Caroline smacked the darker girl with a throw pillow. "That's not funny, Bonnie!"

"Right, I'm sorry." Bonnie apologized, grinning sheepishly before turning serious again. "But I'm kinda serious here. Maybe the solution is you just have to lose your virginity. Aren't you dating Cole? Then why not him?"

Caroline blushed from her roots, feeling uncomfortable for being on the spot. "I don't know. I can't do that. I know it sounds corny but I want it to be, you know, special. Come on, just look at what happened to you two."

Both of her friends looked away in shame. "I don't want to lose it to some jock who's not going to call me the next day."

"And Cole won't?" Bonnie questioned.

"No, he would but it's just…It's just…" That made her pause. Why didn't she want to have her first time with Cole? She liked him a lot. But maybe liking someone wasn't enough. She wanted more than 'like'. She wanted love even as corny as it sounded.

"Caroline?"

The blonde shook her head. "Enough about my virginity, okay?" She sighed. "I need a solution to this whole possession thingy."

"I know," Elena said. "And I think I know someone who can help or at least tell us more about Madeleine."

They found themselves at the Salvatore boarding house later, seated in the parlor with Stefan Salvatore looking both uncomfortable and welcoming.

"You're a vampire?" Caroline said again for the nth time. She still couldn't get over it. Her best friend's boyfriend was a vampire and he'd been for decades, ever since 1864. He knew Madeleine and could tell her more about her ancestor even more than Valerie could.

"And you're a witch." Stefan countered, smiling.

"Yeah but…" Caroline laughed awkwardly. "Right,"

"I think you should start to tell us about Madeleine, Stefan." Elena said and Stefan nodded in agreement.

Stefan began his tale. "It was 1864 and that's when I met Katherine Pierce for the first time…"

He told them everything from meeting Katherine and Madeleine, discovering Madeleine's powers and Katherine's vampirism, Damon's affairs with both women and until finally his conspiring of betraying Madeleine to the town folk when Katherine was captured.

"He was angry at Madeleine because she didn't save Katherine." Stefan explained. "So he betrayed her to the town folk and they burned her at the stake."

"No wonder she's so angry." Caroline mused. "Her family dying, her lover betraying her and what Sheriff Forbes did to her – no wonder she wants revenge."

"And she's going to do everything to get it to," Stefan said. "That curse she cast will come true if we don't stop it."

"Do you know how?"

Stefan looked at her apologetically. "No. I'm not a warlock."

"Then I'll have to find one." Caroline stood up. She knew what she needed to do despite how much it would pain her. "I need to talk to my aunt."

It was not going to be a lovely conversation.

* * *

**Short and a filler chapter. Did you know I wrote TSTS in around three months while this story is taking twice as long? I miss my wolves.**


	19. Luck Be a Lady Tonight

_Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice. _**-Unknown**

Caroline arrived at the house and found it almost empty. The lights were off except for some candles in the living room. Aunt Valerie sat in a circle of chalk, chanting something in Latin, a heavy tome in her hands.

Caroline stood there watching her to see if Aunt Valerie would notice her. She couldn't believe that for so many years her aunt been keeping this big secret about who they were for so long. She thought she could trust her, confide secrets in her and all the while she'd been keeping the biggest secret about Caroline identity from her.

How would she ever forgive her for that?

Her aunt suddenly stopped chanting and turned around, smiling welcomingly at her and gestured for her to come closer. Caroline obeyed and took the seat beside her aunt outside the circle of chalk.

"So, what's up?" Her aunt asked, all bubbly as usual. Caroline had tried to imitate that since she was a child, she'd idolized her aunt that much. That's why her betrayal had hurt more than she could imagine.

Caroline suddenly found herself drained of all energy and said weakly, "Guess what?"

"You're angry with me." Valerie stated, there was no question. Her aunt always did know her best. She sighed. "And I don't blame you."

"Why'd you do it? Not tell me about what we are." Caroline shook her head. "Not tell me about this curse in our family."

"I was trying to protect you," The other blonde replied firmly. "And your mother would've killed me if I mentioned anything about witchcraft to you. Besides, you weren't ready."

"And you think I'm ready now?"

Aunt Valerie leaned closer and put her hand on Caroline's shoulder. "If I had it my way, you would never have to be involved with this curse."

Caroline stared into her aunt's large blue eyes before nodding.

Her aunt pulled away and looked at the tome in her hands again, flipping through pages

"I've been researching some spells," Her aunt said. "Something to counteract the curse. Of course, a decades old curse is hard to break."

"What do we do?"

The blonde smiled wistfully and pulled Caroline in a one-armed hug. Caroline reciprocated and hugged her too, smiling. "We'll figure this out, okay? I promise you."

It was nearly an hour later that she arrived at Cole's dorm room. He was reading some of his comics and lounging about when she came in. He took one look at her distraught expression and pulled her into his arms.

They lounged on the bed as she told him everything, Tyler, their mating, their road trip, her aunt's methods of protection and finding a way to prevent the curse from happening. Caroline just let it all out, telling Cole everything until her throat was sore.

He just patted her hair and tightened his arm around her waist with her head on his chest and she listened to the sound of his heartbeat. It was oddly comforting and they both bathed in the silence as she finished talking.

"Do you think we can break the curse?" She asked after a moment.

Cole rubbed her back in a very pleasing manner, she almost purred like a kitten. "Of course. Every curse has a counter-curse."

Caroline felt comforted and felt her eyelids drooping, being lulled into sleep by the comfortableness of the moment.

"Hey, are you asleep?" Cole asked and she made a whining noise.

"I hate that question. It's so redundant. As if a person will actually answer 'Yes, I'm asleep'."

Cole's husky laughter filled the room and Caroline smiled up at him. For a moment they just smiled at each other before Cole grew serious and tucked her hair behind her ears. "You should know, Caroline, I'll protect you from this curse and anything else."

She felt a warmth bubble up inside her, stretching and releasing until consuming her completely.

"I know."

He pulled her into a kiss and she didn't protest.

His hands didn't wander to anywhere inappropriate but she guided them anyway. She wanted to forget about the stupid curse and Tyler and mating and she wanted to be with Cole for a night,

He knew she was inexperienced where he wasn't and she wanted to feel all of them. She was tired of all the things dictating her life. She wanted to feel something, anything.

He pulled away as she started to undress them both.

"What are you doing?"

She nearly rolled her eyes at him. "What do you think?"

He's expression was stiff and he pulled away from her. "Caroline, you can't…not like this."

"Like what?" She was getting impatient.

"You deserve better than to lose your virginity because you want to prevent a curse from happening."

She felt tears of humiliation pool in her eyes. She suddenly wanted to get away from Cole, from there. She grabbed where her shirt landed on the floor and got up and grabbed her jacket. She put them on hastily as Cole grimaced at her.

"Caroline…" He tried reasoning but she interrupted.

"Okay, I get it. You don't want me." She let out. "No worries, okay?"

He tried protesting. "That's not it-"

"It's okay. _Really_." She said out in a huff before turning her back on him and leaving the dorm room.

His protests followed her and she ignored them.

* * *

**Don't worry, folks, Tyler's in the next chapter.**

**I want to finish this story so I can work on the TSTS sequel. Can't wait.**


	20. Bohemian Rhapsody

Caroline cleared things up with Cole a few days later. She was still embarrassed about how she acted but Cole didn't comment on it and understood that she was getting stressed out from the curse and being a new witch and everything.

He had that advantage over her. He'd known he was a warlock all his life and didn't have to get used to the idea and have things 'accidentally' explode around him. He was lucky in that aspect while she was clearly not.

And the whole virginity thing was being such a pest. If she'd just gone and lost it to some jock like Elena and Bonnie instead of 'waiting for someone special', she wouldn't be having this possession problem. But no, she had to be choosy, she had to wait. And now the boy she wanted to lose her virginity to didn't want to because he thought she deserved better than to lose it for the sake of a curse.

What a dilemma she had. She didn't know what to do.

And that's why she was at that party. Duke's.

She needed to get away, to forget for a second how chaotic her life had become. She'd dragged Cole with her who was more than comfortable with a beer and was now telling her about the constellations.

She listened to him speak as she nursed her own beer, cheering loudly with the jocks when loud music started to play. She grabbed Cole and forced him to his feet and unto near the bonfire. She bobbed her head to the music and forced Cole to sway along. They made a funny pair, swaying to hip hop music and giggly because of the beer.

It felt refreshing, dancing to the music with Cole. She didn't think twice before pulling him down for a kiss, his lips soft as they caressed her own. She breathed through giggly hiccups and moaned as his lips went to her neck.

She felt warm all over and she reveled in it before she's pushed away from Cole. An angry Tyler stood there, livid as can be.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, all anger.

Well, she was angry too, no angrier.

"I'm kissing my boyfriend. What are you doing?" She demanded back and he took a step forward until she could feel his breath on her face.

"You're my mate," he said. "You're not supposed to be kissing other guys."

The beers were getting to her. She felt her ears get filled with cotton and she just wanted to hurt Tyler, wanted to make him cry. He was such a downer and a spaz and she hated him, she hated him so much.

"Well, being your mate sucks so I'll do what I please." She spat, turning away but he grabbed her.

"Do you mean that?" He looked almost vulnerable but she was too far gone in her hate for him to care.

"Yes. Now leave me alone."

He didn't stop her this time and Cole followed her. She turned at the last minute to see Tyler's expression, defeated, lost and heartbroken. Something stirred in her something she couldn't control and she hated herself.

Two sides of her kept contradicting one another. One side hated him and the other cared for him so deeply she could feel it in her bones. She was torn in two, not knowing which side to listen to.

She took a seat at the bottom of a tree, leaning on it struck as she breathed in, trying to make sense of her chaotic emotions. It was too confusing being his mate. She didn't know what to feel anymore. She hated him then loved him. She wanted to hit him then she wanted to kiss him. She was too confused.

"Are you okay?" Cole asked, taking a seat beside her.

She shook her head. "No."

"Is it because you're mated to him?"

"I don't know what to feel." She confessed. "I don't want to feel what I feel for him."

"But you can't stop it?"

"I want to stop it. Can I?" She turned to him and looked at him hopefully. "I can stop it if I want to, can't I?"

He looked like he was about to say no and she pulled him in for a kiss, pouring her soul into it as she tried to forget the flash of hurt in Tyler's chocolate brown eyes.


	21. It's A Miracle

"The Fall Solstice is on the 23rd of September…" Gad had told her when she came to visit him and Cole.

The 23rd which meant one week away, a week to break the curse because today was also her birthday she mused unhappily as Meredith gave a surprise one-armed hug.

"It's okay, Caroline," The brunette had said. "We'll figure this out together. And you're aunt's already working on something right?"

Caroline had said yes but was still unsure.

Cole had come over and kissed her on the cheek, stroking her hair as she leaned on his shoulder. She was comforted for a minute but only a minute.

She was so unsure that she kept worrying about it all the way to Tyler's house. She drove into the driveway half unsure and half sure because she really shouldn't be there. She shouldn't be going there right after seeing her boyfriend who didn't know about her visiting Tyler.

But there she was anyway so tough luck on how she planned on explaining to the warlock why she went there.

She heaved a big sigh as she went over to the front door, ringing on the doorbell as her stomach quivered with butterfly-induced cramps. Tyler opened it and stared at her in astonishment as she beamed so widely at him it almost looked like a grimace.

"Hey Tyler!" She greeted awkwardly. She shouldn't be acting so bubbly after their last encounter but she didn't know any other way to act. He just stared at her like she was an alien.

"Hello," He said slowly in return and opened the door wider. "Would you like to come in?"

She nodded and walked into the home she'd always dreamed would be her own since the first time when she was four. She'd even made a promise to herself that she would end up owning this house someday no matter what it took. She guessed marrying Tyler had been an option but she'd been to naïve at the time to really understand her choices.

How was she to know she'd end up mated to him someday? And wasn't that like marriage already?

"Would you like a drink?" Tyler, ever the gracious host, asked her and she agreed to a water.

She was incredibly nervous and she was thirsty after the car ride.

He handed her a glass as she sat on the bar stools at the counter. Just like the rest of the house, the kitchen was gorgeous and she remembered her childhood daydreams.

"So, what are you here for?" Tyler asked as he went around the counter, leaning on the side of it as he crossed his arms over his chest with a lack of anything to do.

She took a big gulp of her water before answering. "I came to apologize."

He was quiet and that prompted her to continue.

"About the other night, some of the things I said weren't very nice," She explained. "And I'm apologizing for whatever hurt I caused you."

He stood there looking flabbergasted before the largest grin broke out on her face. "What made you feel so guilty all of a sudden?" He was smug, that bastard. "Is something influencing you?"

She felt a small part of her break with indignation and blushed. "Yeah, this stupid werewolf mating voo doo,"

Some side of her had been very adamant that she apologized, some crazy magic in her veins that forced her to make things right with Tyler lest he suffer for what she said at that party. Werewolf mating voo doo her ass, she thought maybe Tyler had more weapons up his sleeve than she knew.

He just kept grinning and went closer to her until he was just a foot away from where she was sitting. "Apology accepted."

"Great, now that that's over and done with. I have to go." She stood up to leave but he stopped her, grabbing her arm and keeping her still.

"Wait," He said and she froze like a beagle on command.

"What?" She prompted when he didn't say anything for a while.

Then he pulled her closer until her head rested on his chest and he pulled her into the warmest, most heartwarming hug she'd ever experienced.

"What are you doing-"

"Sshh! Just for a second, please." His lips descended at her temple and he kissed her there soundly for a moment before he started trailing down her cheek and then to her lips. She stood there eyes wide open and completely shocked as he kissed her, softly and fully until she could barely breathe.

The kiss ended as it began and he pulled away looking into her blue eyes like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. "You should know before you make decisions about our mating, I'm completely in love with you. Ever since you threw that rock at me when we were four years old, I've been mad about you." He sighed, cupping her cheek. "If you could only know just how much I care about you…but you're with Chevalier and there's nothing I can do about it."

He pulled away from her taking a step back and she wanted to follow him, to be back in his arms and kissing him again. The other side that hated him was strangely quiet, mollified.

"Happy birthday, Caroline." He told her before he turned and walked away.

She was left there, confused and most of all longing after him.

* * *

**Three more chapters including the epilogue! Woot!**

**Did you enjoy the Forwood? I know you did! Admit it!  
**


	22. This Magic Moment

"Okay, how can you not be freaking out?" Bonnie exclaimed as they were walking in the middle of the street, making passersby look at them in wonder. The darker girl quickly blushed and tucked her hair behind her ears, trying to look inconspicuous.

Caroline just sighed at her friend. "Look, I am freaking out. More than you guys even."

"Which makes sense because today's the solstice," Elena said. "And you have 24 hours until your ancestor comes to possess you."

Caroline felt that familiar dread and anxiety sink into her stomach and tried not to let it show. Her friends were majorly freaking out already and she needed to be the calming force.

"Let's go get ice cream." She suggested and her two friends looked at her like she was crazy.

"Ice cream?" Bonnie echoed.

"At a time like this?" Elena continued.

"Yes." Caroline pressed on. "We need ice cream _especially _at a time like this."

The three friends went for ice cream despite her friends worrying.

She was enjoying her strawberry ice cream when she bumped into a brooding Tyler who was not watching where he was going and staring down at his feet. The moment he was a foot away from her, his eyes snapped up like a dog that had just sensed a squirrel. She inwardly laughed at the description in her head, knowing he wouldn't have appreciated it at all.

"Hey Tyler," She greeted him with a large grin, making him stare at her in disbelief. "What?"

"Last week you could barely talk to me without there being a hissy fit and now you're all 'Hey Tyler!'" He did a mock imitation of her and she found herself laughing because well, it was true.

"Well, things are changing." She returned. "Things are different."

He quickly caught on. "Because it's the solstice,"

"Argh!" She exclaimed in fury. "Solstice, solstice, solstice – that's all everyone keeps talking about, the damn solstice. Well you know what, I am sick and tired of hearing about it and I've had enough."

He just shook his head at her basketcase behavior. "You know I've heard about cases like this when people under pressure act like lunatics cause they can't handle it."

She was quick to retort. "I am not under pressure!" He looked at her skeptically and she yelped. "I'm not!"

He just put his hands up in surrender. "Whatever you say, Forbes."

She was about to give him a piece of her mind when she got a call from her Aunt Valerie..

"Hey Aunt V, what's up?"She greeted cheerfully much to her friends' disgust.

"_You sound disturbingly cheery."_

She rolled her blue eyes. "I know, I know. What's the problem?"

"_I need you home, now."_

And that was that.

"I need to get home. Witch business." She explained to Tyler before turning to her friends.

Caroline bid goodbye to Elena and Bonnie (who had made themselves scarce the moment Tyler appeared) and made her way home.

The moment she was alone in her car, she let out a sigh and tried to calm her shaking hands. She had fooled her friends into thinking she was okay but truthfully her nerves were shot. Today was the solstice for Christ's sake and she had no idea what to do about it. That's why she was behaving like a lunatic because everyone around her was freaking out and she couldn't join them.

She found Cole and her aunt talking over something.

"Hello," She greeted them awkwardly. "I'm here now."

Aunt Valerie was all business. "We found a cure."

A what?

"Really?" She found herself smiling as relief flooded over here. There was a cure! A way to break the spell! "What is it?"

"There's a ritual that needs to be done. It's relatively easy except…" Her aunt trailed off, looking unsure as if to continue.

"Except what?" Caroline asked. "You're scaring me. What's the matter?"

"It requires a blood sacrifice." Cole stepped in. "You have to kill someone."

"No." The word was out before she could even think. "I'm not going to kill someone."

"It's the only way…" Aunt Valerie reasoned.

"I mean who would we kill you? Some homeless person on the street or should we drug and kidnap someone at Duke's parties?" Caroline heatedly responded. "This is crazy, guys, _crazy_. We _can't_ kill someone even for this."

"Then you're doomed." Aunt Valerie said, tears in her eyes. She cupped Caroline's face and kissed her on her forehead. "Madeleine will have you."

"Then let that be."

Those were Caroline's last words before she ran. She got in her car and started driving towards the woods near the falls the more secluded the better, where no one could find her.

Shuddering, she collapsed on the ground of dried leaves, the leaves softening the ground. She sighed to herself as she lay there, staring up at the afternoon sky and feeling the sun on her face. Everything seemed so normal as if nothing was going to go wrong. As if she wasn't going to be possessed by some vengeful spirit.

When did everything get so fucked up? She thought to herself.

A snapping of a twig alerted her and she sat up to see Cole coming towards her.

"Hey," He greeted. "Found you."

He took the seat beside her on her bed of leaves without asking for permission and she sighed again.

"How'd you find me?"

"I know a wicked tracking spell. I used your hairbrush." His fingers tugged on her hair affectionately and she smiled at him even though she didn't feel like smiling. She felt tired all of a sudden, drained.

"I wanted to be alone."

"That's not true." He insisted. "No one would want to be alone at this moment." He grasped her hand in his and lifted her chin with the other. "Hey, I'm here for you."

She smiled at him again and accepted his comfort.

* * *

**Two more chapters and then the epilogue! The ending is near.**


	23. The Old Black Magic

Caroline stared at her watch as the sun set in the sky. The sky was the color of pinks and oranges, making it reflect on the water of the falls. It was quite beautiful and Caroline basked in it as she leaned her head on Cole's shoulder. Cole rested his head on top of hers and caressed her hand in his.

They were quite cozy the two of them and Caroline found herself thinking of Tyler at that moment, wondering where he was and if he was looking for her. It felt like a betrayal to think about her mate (it was the first time she acknowledged him as such and it was odd) and not her boyfriend especially when she was with him.

Cole was so sweet, running after her and comforting her and there she was thinking about some other boy. But she was his mate did not make her relationship with Cole adultery since mating was like marriage? She was confused, very confused.

She sighed to herself and let go of Cole's hand. He asked her what the matter was.

And she replied, "Nothing, Cole." She knew she couldn't tell him of her conflictions. He would be jealous of her thinking about Tyler so much but she couldn't help herself. Ever since that kiss on her birthday she couldn't stop herself from thinking about Tyler, Cole pushed back at the back of her mind in favor of the werewolf.

The sun was gone before she knew it and they counted the seconds till it was time – the solstice,

She took a deep breath and moved away from Cole, feeling the tears prickling her eyes. At any moment now, Madeleine would possess her and she'd be helpless to stop it.

"Caroline…" She looked to Cole who had a very grim expression on his face. "I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"I've not been very forthcoming to you about some details of my past. There are some things you don't know about me." He explained. "For instance, my family comes from an ancient coven of witches that have a very important mission."

"A mission about what?"

"To stop the Prideauxs from rising again. We cannot let the evil that they created be resurrected." He looked mournful as he took her hands in his. "Forgive me, Caroline, for what I am about to do."

"Cole…" She was fearful now and she started to move away on her hands as he inched closer. He grabbed on to her ankle and pulled her to him.

"I'm sorry, Caroline." And then his hands were on her neck, suffocating the life out her. Air was having trouble getting into her lungs as his fingers squeezed her until she was black and blue. Bruises would form on her neck and she kicked and flailed, trying to escape.

"Cole, stop it!" She shouted but he didn't let go.

"I need to do this! I'm trying to save you!" He shouted back.

And she started to cry, desperate tears falling from her eyes as she choked and gasped for air.

Spots started to form before her eyes and then it all quickly spiraled into darkness where there was peace.

Cole stared down at the unconscious Caroline and checked for a pulse, it was faint but still there. He grasped for the knife in his boot and hovered over her, willing himself to slit her throat and get this over with.

But as he stared down at Caroline's dollish face, he found himself second guessing what he was doing. How could he kill an innocent girl? Over what? A millennia old curse that could possibly not even be true anyway? No, he couldn't do it.

He caressed Caroline's face with his free hand and asked the gods what to do.

He almost jumped back in shock as her eyes opened and they glowed a bright purple.

"Hello warlock," Her voice sounded sultry and low, it was Caroline's voice but then it wasn't.

Then a blast of magic hit him so hard that he fell unconscious.

Madeleine started down at the warlock by her feet and smirked to herself, clenching and unclenching her fists as she took on her new form. It felt good to be back.

Now, who was first on her list?

Cole woke up to Meredith, Gad and Tyler hovering over him.

"Cole, where's Caroline?" Meredith asked as she shook him.

"It's too late." He answered. "She's been possessed."

Meanwhile, Madeleine knocked on the Salvatore house's front door. It looked so familiar after all these years. It was almost yesterday when she arrived here with Katherine….

Damon answered the door, smirking cockily when he saw her. "Hey blondie. What brings you to our neck of the woods?"

"Important business," She answered. "Can I come in?"

He stepped aside.

She smirked to herself as she entered. Perfect.

* * *

**One more chapter and the epilogue.**


	24. Black Magic Woman

Madeleine took a seat at the couch, her eyes never leaving Damon's form as he sauntered over to make himself a drink.

"I'll have one." She said. She felt really eager, how she wanted to torture him after waiting for so long for her revenge. But she was calm, she knew her patience would be worth it and she smiled to herself as he handed her a drink.

"So what's this important business you're here for?" He asked as he took the seat opposite.

"Just old history." She titled her head to the side. "Years ago, there was this girl. She fell in love with you and you broke her heart."

"I break a lot of hearts. It's my hobby." He said, laughingly. "Who's this girl you're talking about?"

"Madeleine Prideaux." He paled, his hand on his drink started shaking. "Does the name ring a bell?"

He took a long swallow of his drink. She watched his Adam's apple bob with pleasure. It was so nice to see him nervous. "That's _ancient_ history. Why are you digging up the past, blondie?"

She tapped her fingers on the couch's arm contemplatively. "I'd prefer it if you called me by my real name."

"Okay, _Caroline_."

She leaned forward and looked him right in the eye. "No. _Madeleine_."

His blue eyes widened before he was screaming.

Using magic, she incapacitated him to the ground until he couldn't move a muscle. Then she set the carpet on fire. He tried to move away as the fires started to move towards him.

"Stop it!"

"I said the exact same thing as the fires burned me at the stake!" Madeleine shouted. "And you did nothing but watch!"

"I'm sorry!"

"You killed me! And now I'm going to kill you." She started muttering something in Latin as the fires brightened and moved even closer towards Damon.

Then just as the fires touched him Valerie, Meredith, Cole, Gad and Tyler burst through the door.

"Come to the rescue, have you?" Madeleine mockingly remarked.

"I'll keep her busy, you start on the counter curse. I'll keep her busy." Cole muttered to the witches and warlock before he lunged.

Cole said a spell and the flames around Damon died. Madeleine looked at him in fury.

"Come to save the day, warlock?"

"I'm about to try, you bitch." He started chanting a spell but Madeleine waved her hand and Cole fell to the ground, clutching his head.

Tyler stepped forward. "Caroline, this isn't you!"

Madeleine cocked her head to the side, pouting mockingly. "Aww, the werewolf has come to save his mate. Too bad she never loved you." She waved her hand and he too was clutching his head in pain.

Madeleine turned to Meredith, Valerie and Gad who were chanting in unison. "As for you-"

"Not so fast."

She turned back to Cole who had a dagger in his hand. "What? Are you going to try and kill me now?"

Cole shook his head. "No." Then he did something that shocked everyone in the room, he stabbed himself in the heart. Meredith stopped chanting and ran to his side, shouting, "No!"

Light consumed Madeleine as her soul was ripped out of Caroline. Tyler caught her as she collapsed to the ground. Caroline opened her eyes and stared up into Tyler's eyes. "Tyler…"

Then she turned to where a dead Cole lay, Meredith sobbing over him.

"Oh no." She said. "He sacrificed himself…"

"For you." Tyler continued. "He loved you so much, he wanted to save you."

"No…" She started to cry. "This is not what I wanted."

Gad came over and knelt beside Cole's corpse, his hand on Meredith's back.

Valerie stepped over an unconscious Damon and was at Caroline's other side in a minute. Her fingers caressing her niece's hair as the younger blonde cried in Tyler's arms.

"This is all my fault." She sobbed. "It should've been me."

"No," Valerie disagreed. "Whatever happened, Cole wouldn't have wanted you to blame yourself for all this. He did what he did because he loved you and he did it with his own free will."

"But he's dead…"

"And he will be mourned."

Caroline was enveloped into Tyler's arms and she cried for a boy who died and would never wake up again.

* * *

**Just the epilogue left. So how was it?**


	25. Season of the Witch

**Epilogue:**

Today was Cole's funeral. She knew because Meredith and Gad left a few days ago for France where Cole was to be buried. Meredith had hugged her and wished her the best of luck while Gad did the same and left her some books on witchcraft so she could study on it. They both left phone numbers and email addresses so they could keep in touch and Caroline would miss both of them dearly.

Tyler and Caroline were at the Lockwood estate, saying goodbye to Mason and Valerie as the two were headed off to Florida. Before they got into the car, Valerie hugged her niece and remarked, "So you two better visit us in Florida. For the baptismal and everything,"

"Baptismal?" Caroline echoed, her eyes widening in realization. "Wait, are you…are you pregnant?"

"Took you long enough to figure out." She said cockily. Mason was smirking and Tyler was laughing at her gaping face.

"You knew!" She smacked Tyler on the arm. "And you didn't tell me!"

"You were a little preoccupied," He reasoned. "And it wasn't my secret to tell."

"Oh don't give me that!" Caroline chided. "It's my right to know that my favorite aunt is pregnant with a werewolf baby mind you."

"We're not sure if it'll be a werewolf..." Valerie remarked making Mason roll his eyes.

"Trust me, babe, he's going to be a werewolf."

"_She _will grow up to be a witch too, you know."

"_He _will be a fantastic warlock, just like his mom." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Caroline grinned at their sweetness and thought gleefully to herself, _she was going to have a cousin in a few months, her first cousin!_

"Well, we gotta go. I'll see you in a few months." Valerie hugged her again and stroked her hair, whispering in her ear. "You and Tyler take care of each other, okay?"

She huffed to herself but nodded grimly. Why was her aunt saying that like she and Tyler were going to be spending loads of time with each other? And they weren't! After everything that happened, she wasn't comfortable getting close to him. It seemed like she was defacing Cole's memory.

"Take care of your girl, Tyler," Mason remarked, his arm around Valerie. "And Caroline, be nice to my nephew."

"Can't make any promises." Caroline cheekily replied, earning her a scoff from Tyler.

The two adults headed in their car and then were off. Tyler and Caroline waved at them as they went away.

"Come on, I'll drive you home." Tyler told her and she agreed since she didn't drive there and had no car. She didn't feel like walking all the way home and Tyler offered so she acquiesced.

The drive was quiet for a long while, none of the two could think of anything to talk about. It felt so awkward between them, like they didn't know what to say.

It wasn't until they were in town that Tyler spoke up. "None of it is your fault you know, what happened with Madeleine. It's not your fault."

"I know." She said. "I don't blame myself but I do feel guilty. Cole died for me and everything."

"That's because he loved you," He stated, his voice lowering as he continued. "It's kind of hard not to."

She blushed at his words, remembering him telling her on her birthday that he loved her since they were kids. Did he still love her now? She was afraid to ask and she bit her tongue. Instead she said, "I don't hate you, you know."

He looked up in surprise and she continued. "I was angry at you all those weeks because Madeleine was angry. Her anger over what happened to her was so cancerous, it consumed and destroyed her." She shrugged. "I'm sorry I took it out on you. If there's one thing I don't want to be its Madeleine."

"It's okay." He smiled guiltlessly. "It was nice to have your attention even if it was negative."

She rejoiced in his openness smiled back. "Thank you for saving me." She replied. "I don't think I can ever thank you enough for trying to help me."

"You're welcome." He took her hand in his and squeezed. "I'm always here for you, Caroline."

"Will we be seeing more of each other?" She ventured. "I mean as friends and such?"

He grinned and telepathically replied, _"Of course."_

* * *

**There you have it. The end of Miseria. It ends with open-ended Forwood. There will be no sequel, prequel or any other spin-off to speak. My next story is called Wolfsbane. So go check that out when it's up.**


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